We are nearing draft month. The 2026 NFL Draft is less than 30 days away, and for the Baltimore Ravens, it couldn\u2019t be more exciting. Baltimore\u2019s scouting department always puts insane research in, and the work they put into it this year should be no different.<\/p>\n
After a wild free agency, the Ravens’ draft plans are becoming clearer<\/a>. It feels like all signs are pointing towards offense in the first round. Wide receiver and interior offensive line are clearly their top needs. However, general manager Eric DeCosta lives and dies with the best player available strategy. If certain prospects fall, things could change.<\/p>\n According to NFL Network\u2019s Daniel Jeremiah<\/a>, Ohio State\u2019s Caleb Downs could be among the potential draft fallers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe safety position is tricky,\u201d Jeremiah said. \u201cI don\u2019t know that you can say just lock it in, he\u2019s a top five, he\u2019s gonna go guaranteed even in the top 10. I would say the floor for me is probably the Cowboys at 12. Maybe more in that range.\u201d<\/p>\n Downs is uber-talented, but Baltimore doesn\u2019t need a safety at all. If he does fall, though, it could be difficult for DeCosta to pass on him, especially with Downs\u2019 versatility. And if he selected Downs, that\u2019d be a nightmare for Ravens fans.<\/p>\n Baltimore Ravens could be in striking distance for Caleb Downs and fans wouldn\u2019t be happy with the pairing<\/p>\n Sure, Downs would be fun. The possibilities with Kyle Hamilton, Malaki Starks, and Caleb Downs would be endless. Hamilton playing wherever he feels like it, Downs playing in the box, and Starks handling centerfield duties would be electric. But that talent would be too much of a good thing. <\/p>\n In that scenario, it\u2019d be three safeties drafted within the past five years, and four secondary selections in that stretch. It\u2019s time to focus on adding help elsewhere.<\/p>\n The Ravens really can\u2019t leave the first round without addressing the offensive side of the ball. They lost their Pro Bowl center<\/a>, Tyler Linderbaum, in free agency, have major questions about their guard situation, and have yet to make any additions at wide receiver to complement Zay Flowers. If they even thought about drafting Downs leading up to draft night, it\u2019d be a complete waste of time.<\/p>\n Thankfully, it sounds like Downs won\u2019t make it past the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas picks at 12, and that was Jeremiah\u2019s suggested floor. His belief that he could fall into that range is a scary enough thought to cause some worry in the minds of Baltimore fans, though. It\u2019d be a horrendous outcome in the first round.<\/p>\n Downs is expected to be one of the most talented players to come out of this year\u2019s draft. The Ravens would certainly improve if they were in a position to draft him, although it wouldn\u2019t be a drastic improvement. They signed Jaylinn Hawkins<\/a> this offseason, and between him, Hamilton, and Starks, that\u2019s one of the best safety rooms in the NFL<\/a>. Thankfully, Baltimore probably won\u2019t entertain the thought of making Downs a Raven. The needs are just too pressing at other spots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We are nearing draft month. The 2026 NFL Draft is less than 30 days away, and for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2052],"tags":[184,117,2282,7,6,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-844909","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baltimore-ravens","8":"tag-baltimore","9":"tag-baltimore-ravens","10":"tag-baltimoreravens","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-ravens"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116323977881151497","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}