How the first of team’s two fourth-round steals can be the missing piece to the offense.
Heading into the 2024 NFL Draft, one of the biggest needs for the Baltimore Ravens was at wide receiver and according to general manager Eric DeCosta, they had a specific type of prospect and skill set at the position in mind they wanted to add.
“We were looking for a different body type this year. We were looking for an outside big-bodied guy,” DeCosta said on a recent appearance on “The Lounge” podcast. “I subscribe to the theory that it’s like a restaurant. You go to a restaurant, you want a lot of different things on the menu. You don’t want all the same thing on the menu. At the receiver position, it is smart to have different types of receivers.”
When it comes to the pre-draft evolution process and offseason in general, the Ravens elicit the input from franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson because he is the one who the offense is built around and ultimately decides who to throw the ball to. While the two-time league MVP didn’t provide the team list of specific wide receiver prospects he scouted or liked, he expressed a clear desire to have them add a bigger-bodied traditional X-type receiver who would complement the versatile skillsets of former first-rounders Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and Nelson Agholor.
“He was hoping to get a different body type with a different skillset outside and I think we were able to supply that for him,” DeCosta said.
The aforementioned prospect he was referring to that the Ravens added is former ACC standout Devontez Walker, who they selected in the fourth round at No. 113.
Playmaker @DevontezWalker : NFL Draft on ABC/ESPN/NFL Net pic.twitter.com/D5OlZwAVLn
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 27, 2024
At 6-foot-1 and with blazing vertical speed as evidenced by his mark of 4.36-seconds in the 40-yard dash at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, Walker fits the mold of exactly the type of weapon both they and Jackson were looking to bring in.
“One of the things that we’ve been missing a little bit is that big linear outside field stretcher type of guy,” DeCosta said. “Zay is fast and he can be a vertical guy, Bate[man] is fast and is a vertical guy but we view both of those guys as also really good inside, full route tree running, being able to drop their weight, getting inside, getting open [and] uncovering.”
In Walker, he believes the Ravens have their next Torrey Smith with how he can “just run past people, catch the ball vertical routes, draw pass interference penalties, force teams to play two-deep [and] cover-2 type coverages against us.”
“I think it’s going to really help us,” DeCosta said. “He is a guy that can go get the ball.”
The Ravens leading wide receiver in yards per reception last season was three-time Pro Bowler Odell Beckham Jr., who averaged 16.1 yards per catch. He officially won’t be coming back after agreeing to terms with the Miami Dolphins on a one-year deal on Friday. In his three years in college, Walker averaged 16.8 yards per catch with a career-high of 17 last season as the Tar Heels No. 1 receiver.
In just eight games as a senior, he averaged 87.3 receiving yards per game despite recording just around five catches per contest, and five of his seven touchdowns were from 21-plus yards out. Walker is a speedster who can go up for and come down with contested catches and was the only receiver to catch a pass for 20-plus yards on Ravens first-round cornerback Nate Wiggins last year. He knows how to do more with fewer opportunities having had a pair of games in 2023 during which he only made two catches in each but scored one or more touchdowns in both.
The Ravens will always be a run-first offense and even less likely to stray away from that identity after signing four-time Pro Bowler and two-time league rushing champ Derrick Henry in free agency this offseason. However, adding another explosive weapon to their offensive arsenal will not only make it easier to run the ball because it will force opposing defenses into light boxes as a result of playing two-safety coverages but his presence adds another dangerous threat in the play-action passing attack.
Even if Walker only averages three or four targets a game, as long as he can consistently come down with most of them or at least draw a flag for a fresh set of downs if he can’t, he could prove to be one of the biggest steals in this year’s draft. Hearing about DeCosta’s lofty praise and high expectations for him makes Walker even more determined to reward the organization’s faith in him.
“[It] just makes me, honestly, want to work harder and be one of those guys that the team can depend on to go out there, make plays and show up,” Walker said at rookie minicamp. “That’s what I have to say about that. It just makes me go harder [and want to] be one of the guys the team can rely on.”