The Baltimore Ravens are widely regarded as a team that drafts well by using a multitude of different strategies. They are able to secure talent by drafting for need, but also by taking the best player available to them on their board at the time of their selection, effectively stacking depth on depth.
When grading each NFL team’s 2017 draft haul, Maurice Moten of Bleacher Report gave Baltimore a solid grade of a B+, discussing some of the best picks that the team had as they developed into starting caliber players over the course of their first few seasons in the league.
“Aside from two-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey, the Baltimore Ravens’ top 2017 picks needed time to develop into first-stringers…In 2021, Tyus Bowser became a full-time starter, recording 59 tackles, eight for loss, seven sacks and 26 pressures. After two years in a backup role, Chuck Clark has started in most of the games at safety.”
Moten also talked about some of the selections that didn’t quite pan out for the team from their 2017 draft class, but said that they get a lot of credit for drafting three defensive starters.
“On the flip side, the Ravens saw Chris Wormley break out after they traded him to a division rival in the Pittsburgh Steelers two years ago. In 2021, he had his best pro campaign, logging 51 tackles, six for loss, seven sacks and 18 pressures…Tim Williams and Jermaine Eluemunor each played fewer than 20 games with the Ravens. Nico Siragusa has logged zero NFL regular-season snaps…Overall, Baltimore gets a lot of credit for finding three starters on defense—one of them a top playmaker among the league’s cornerbacks.”
Humphrey and Clark have been staples in the Ravens’ secondary, while Bowser has turned into one of the most versatile players on the Baltimore defense. While players such as Wormley, Williams, Eluemunor and Siragusa didn’t quite work out for the team, they were still able to secure top-end talent at multiple points in the draft, making the class a decently good one all things considered.