Resilient WR among Reese’s Senior Bowl standouts who fit Ravens offensive needs

The annual premier all-star games featured some impressive performances from prospects at positions that will be addressed this offseason.

The Ravens front office has long believed in drafting and developing their core talent rather than relying on veteran acquisitions. General manager Eric DeCosta has repeatedly said that the draft is the “lifeblood” of the organization, and a quick glance at the roster explains why. Outside of Roquan Smith, all of the Ravens’ key long-term players were acquired via the draft.

College football’s annual all-star games are key scouting opportunities for the Ravens. The Reese’s Senior Bowl is one of the premier events of the circuit and provides a pool of the top collegiate talent from which the Ravens regularly find future players.

Four of the Ravens’ nine selections in the 2024 NFL Draft attended last year’s Senior Bowl: right tackle Roger Rosengarten, outside linebacker Adisa Isaac, wide receiver Devontez Walker and running back Rasheen Ali.

Here are some promising prospects who fit the Ravens’ positions of need on offense and could hear their names called by the organization during the 2025 NFL Draft.

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IOL Grey Zabel, North Dakota State

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The former FCS standout who spent the last two years playing left tackle for the Bison projects better as an interior player at the next level. Zabel will be one of the biggest risers up draft boards after he consistently dominated higher-level competition. He took reps at all three interior spots throughout the week, earning National Team’s Practice Player of the Week honors. During practice, he’d sometimes flip between both guard spots from one rep to another and showed impressive grip strength, hand placement, and ability to mirror to go along with a strong anchor.

In Saturday’s game, he started at right guard and performed well in pass protection and largely held up as a run blocker. (His one bad rep was against a player further down this list.) Zabel moved over to center in the second quarter and continued his success on pulls and screens. While the Ravens are set at center with two-time Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum, they could be losing versatile veteran Patrick Mekari in free agency and starting right guard Daniel Faalele is entering the final year of his rookie contract. Zabel might be an option for the Ravens in the late first round or if they trade back into the early second. He likely won’t be available in the bottom of Round 2 after the strong week he had.

WR Jack Bech, TCU

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The former Horned Frog has one of the most inspiring stories of the pre-draft cycle. His older brother, Tiger, was one of the victims of the domestic terrorism in New Orleans on New Year’s Day. With players on both sides wearing a helmet decal to commemorate Tiger, Jack Bech honored his brother in the best way he knew how. He was one of the best overall players from the event whose draft stock is certainly on the rise. Bech displayed the skill set of a complete receiver all week, showing strong hands, running crisp routes and making contested catches. On day two of practice, he shined as a blocker and hauled in an underthrown deep ball from Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe over two defenders.

Bech carried his momentum into Saturday’s game. He received Senior Bowl MVP honors after finishing with six receptions for 68 receiving yards and a game-winning touchdown. On the first drive, he went over the middle to make a tough catch for first down. He made a nice block on a screen on the second drive that led to a first down and later exhibited great body control and toughness to haul in a deep ball off a flea flicker. His last three receptions all came on the game’s final drive, capped off by a walk-off touchdown.

Bech entered the week projected to be a Day 3 prospect with just one year of prolific production in college (62 catches for 1,034 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in 2024). However, he might have very well put himself into Day 2 consideration this past week. The Ravens could use an upgrade at No. 3 receiver behind 2024 Pro Bowler Zay Flowers and breakout fourth-year pro Rashod Bateman with both Tylan Wallace and Nelson Agholor slated to be unrestricted free agents.

IOL Clay Webb, Jacksonville State

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The former University of Georgia transfer blocked like an absolute ‘dawg’ along the interior on the first day of practice, making quite a strong first impression on all those in attendance. He showed a strong anchor and was a road grader as a run blocker where his reputation of playing with a mean streak flashed. Webb held his own in 1-on-1s on the second day but and up and down performance in Saturday’s game.

Webb started strong with some nice pass-blocking reps against Toledo defensive tackle Darius Alexander who was one of the standouts of the week on the second drive while at left guard. He kind of gave up a sack to Utah defensive tackle Junior Tafuna but the pocket was collapsing around Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard who stepped into it. Webb made a nice pull on a six-yard gain on the first play of the second half, got beat for a sack that forced a 50-yard field goal attempt that was ultimately miss and got called for a false start late in the fourth quarter. Overall, he helped himself and showed that he could be a solid interior depth piece who could develop into a quality starter and is someone to monitor on Day 3 of the draft.

WR Jayden Higgins, Iowa State

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At 6-foot-4 and 217 pounds, the former Cyclone brings a physical dimension and skillset the Ravens don’t currently have on their roster and he plays up to his impressive size. Wiggins bounced back from an up-and-down first day of practice with a much stronger performance on the second. He showed off more nuanced route-running as well as contested catch ability and did the same in the game. On the first drive, he gained separation and picked up first down on a catch he made on a crossing route and then hauled in a contested touchdown in the end zone off a trick play for the first points of the game.

This wide receiver class has a shortage of prospects with prototypical X receiver builds and playmaking ability. Given that he is one of the few exceptions, Wiggins could be an option for the Ravens as early as the second round. In his final year in college, he recorded 87 catches for 1,183 receiving yards and nine touchdowns and averaged 91 yards per game—all of which were career highs.