How have the Ravens drafted at wide receiver over the past 10 years?
The 2024 NFL Draft is fast approaching and coverage has begun to swell. The Ravens currently possess nine total picks for the 2024 draft and are slated to select at No. 30 overall in the first round.
Much can change between now and draft weekend, but the magnitude of the draft will remain the same. The Ravens have long prioritized using the draft as their primary mechanism to add talent and strengthen their roster.
In preparation for this year’s upcoming cycle, it can be useful to revisit history to understand the team’s drafting tendencies, where they’ve hit, where they’ve missed and other notable trends. This series will outline each of the Ravens’ draft picks at certain positions dating back 10 years to 2014, broken down into the following categories:
- Early-Round = Player drafted in Round 1-2
- Mid-Round = Player drafted in Round 3-4
- Late-Round = Player drafted in Round 5-7
For starters we’ll look at the wide receiver position, where the Ravens have been busy with a total of 12 draft selections made during such span.
Early-Round Picks:
- Zay Flowers (R1, 2023)
- Rashod Bateman (R1, 2021)
- Marquise Brown (R1, 2019)
- Breshad Perriman (R1, 2015)
Mid-Round Picks:
- Tylan Wallace (R4, 2021)
- Devin Duvernay (R3, 2020)
- Miles Boykin (R3, 2019)
- Jaleel Scott (R4, 2018)
- Chris Moore (R4, 2016)
Late-Round Picks:
- James Proche (R6, 2020)
- Jordan Lasley (R5, 2018)
- Michael Campanaro (R7, 2014)
Biggest hit: Zay Flowers
Biggest miss: Breshad Perriman
It’s no secret the Ravens struggled in nailing the wide receiver position. It dates back to the inception of the franchise but can also be seen when looking at the past 10 years.
The majority of the Ravens’ 12 wide receiver selections have been in the middle or late rounds. From the eight wideouts picked in Round 3 or later, they have not found a consistent offensive contributor. Wallace is the only player from this group still on the roster and has been almost exclusively a special teams player through three career seasons.
Duvernay developed into an All-Pro returner on special teams but was scarcely used as anything more than a gadget-type complimentary player on offense. He departed in free agency this offseason to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
General manager Eric DeCosta has drafted three wide receivers in the first round since 2018. The jury is still out on 2021 selectee Rashod Bateman, who has yet to meet expectations thus far but dealt with injuries through his first two seasons. The pending 2024 season is shaping up to be a pivotal make-or-break campaign for Bateman.
Marquise “Hollywood” Brown recorded the team’s first ever 1,000-yard season from a drafted wide receiver in 2021, but was traded the next offseason after requesting out. So, despite some nice moments with the Ravens, it’s hard to view that selection as a clear success. Flowers appears primed to be the biggest home run pick on this list.
Flowers is coming off an impressive rookie season in which he caught 77 passes and led the team in receiving yards, establishing himself as the No. 1 wide receiver. A sophomore jump this upcoming year is in the cards. His potential and trajectory is key for the Ravens to finally hit on an early draft pick at the position. Given the lack of success and/or longevity from most players on this list, it’s not crazy to already say Flowers is the team’s biggest hit.
Interestingly, the Ravens have not used a single second-round pick on a wide receiver in the past 10 years. The last time they did so was in 2011 when they selected Torrey Smith out of Maryland.
If this history bears true in 2024, we can expect the Ravens to either nab a wide receiver with their first-round pick (No. 30 overall) or do so in the third round or later. With two fourth-round selections under their belt on top of a third-rounder as well, the Ravens have plenty of capital to draft a wideout in the middle rounds if they choose that route.