The Ravens’ 2022 Draft Class Exemplifies Great Team-Building Model
As noted in Late for Work last week, the Ravens’ stellar 2022 draft class, headlined by first-rounders Hamilton and Linderbaum, cashed in big time on their second contracts, totaling $300 million.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said the Ravens’ hitting on their picks that year is only part of the story.
“It’s a great example of what it looks like when a personnel department is really executing at a high level,” Breer wrote. “The story of how the whole thing came together actually starts before the draft, with the player development and maneuvering that set up the class.
“That started with comp picks. The Ravens got a third-round comp pick after losing Assistant Head coach David Culley to the Texans, and fourth-rounders for losing free-agents Matthew Judon and Yannick Ngakoue — Judon was a guy they drafted and developed, while they traded for Ngakoue at the 2020 deadline. So those three were in the bag, as was a fourth fourth-rounder they got the previous summer in a deal sending one more player they’d drafted and developed, Ben Bredeson, to the Giants. The Ravens then took the Culley pick and packaged it with another homegrown guy, Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown, to land the No. 23 pick. Which left them, at that point, with two first-rounders, second- and third-rounders, and the four fourth-rounders.”
While Hamilton and third-round defensive tackle Travis Jones are the only picks from the 2022 class who are still on the team, Breer said the Ravens have set themselves up for continued success.
“In the end, all of this shows strategy, talent development and asset management, and why good teams stay good,” Breer wrote. “Hamilton is a cornerstone. Jones is an important piece. The others gave the Ravens four good years (and in the case of Linderbaum, elite play at a pivotal position) and now will be responsible for setting Baltimore up for a similar haul of comp picks in 2027.”