Ravens land ‘best guard in the nation’ in ESPN early 2025 mock draft

Pundit believes Baltimore will continue fortifying the interior of the offensive line with their top pick next year.

The Baltimore Ravens’ top priority this offseason was rebuilding the offensive line and they began the process by moving on from both starting guards and their starting right tackle.

While they appear to be committed to giving some of the young talent they’ve accumulated in recent years a chance to prove themselves in 2024, ESPN Matt Miller believes the youth movement will continue next offseason.

In his early 2025 mock draft that recently dropped, he had the Ravens going back to a familiar talent pool by selecting Alabama standout offensive guard Tyler Booker at No. 29 overall.

“The Ravens lost guards John Simpson and Kevin Zeitler to free agency and did very little to replace them, relying now on backup Ben Cleveland and former seventh-rounder Andrew Vorhees,” Miller wrote. “Booker, meanwhile, is the best guard in the nation and would have likely been the top true guard in the 2024 draft class had he been eligible. He’s powerful and pancakes defensive linemen with ease. In 2023, he surrendered just four pressures and one sack over 13 starts at left guard. This is the type of no-nonsense interior blocker whom the Ravens covet.”

The rising junior definitely fits the mold of what the Ravens look for in an offensive lineman from a pure physical profile measuring in at 6-foot-5 and 352 pounds, a high pedigree hailing from a powerhouse SEC program and a playstyle standpoint. He is a former five-star recruit who was one of the top offensive tackles in his class but possessed the versatility to play inside where he best projected at the college and NFL levels.

Booker is a road grader in the run game and dominates at the point of attack in pass protection. His film shows someone who plays to the whistle with control and finishes his blocks with authority.

With Cleveland slated to be an unrestricted free agent after this season, he could be the next Ravens’ offensive lineman to parlay a breakout season into a lucrative contract the following offseason. He is currently in line to replace Zeitler at right guard but that spot could be up for grabs again if he follows in the footsteps of his predecessor and departs in free agency.

A potentially more pressing need for the Ravens next offseason as it pertains to their starting offensive line could be finding a replacement for former First Team All Pro Ronnie Stanley at left tackle. The former first-rounder in 2016 is heading into the final year of his contract after agreeing to a restructure in March that will have him slated to be an unrestricted free agent next Spring if he isn’t retained.

Many pundits expected them to find his eventual successor this year given how loaded the 2024 class was at the position. They very well might have with second-rounder Rodger Rosengarten who is currently competing to start at right tackle where he played in college and was still the blindside protector for his left-handed quarterback.