{"id":849346,"date":"2026-04-02T14:01:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849346\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T14:01:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:01:14","slug":"pundit-looks-at-the-ideal-top-two-picks-for-the-ravens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849346\/","title":{"rendered":"Pundit Looks at the Ideal Top Two Picks for the Ravens"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  Pundit Looks at the Ideal Top Two Picks for the Ravens<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to the Ravens&#8217; draft strategy, they generally have a best-player-available philosophy while also being mindful of their needs.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"nfl-o-cta--link nfl-o-cta--underline\" style=\"word-break: break-word\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/2026-nfl-draft-ideal-top-two-picks-for-every-team\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NFL.com lead draft writer Eric Edholm<\/a> put himself in all 32 teams&#8217; shoes and came up with the ideal top two picks for each based on how each team might think.<\/p>\n<p>Edholm has the Ravens taking Penn State guard Vega Ioane in the first round at No. 14 and Florida defensive tackle Caleb Banks in the second round at No. 45.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Ravens fans might be sick of seeing the same name here, but Ioane would be an immediate upgrade at right guard and give them more talent and depth up front,&#8221; Edholm wrote. &#8220;Guards might not be high on the positional-value scale, but this could be a synergistic addition for an incomplete offensive line.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Banks pick might be a bit too on the nose, given the Ravens&#8217; willingness to take calculated draft risks, but if he checks out medically, Banks could give the front another pressure source. And yes, I considered an edge rusher, but the value and fit weren&#8217;t there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Banks has gone in the first round in a number of mock drafts, with several linking him to the Ravens at No. 14. However, he could slide into the second round because of his injury history.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Florida standout looked like a top-10 prospect in 2024, with his relentless game-wrecking forcing opponents to alter their offensive plans,&#8221; <a class=\"nfl-o-cta--link nfl-o-cta--underline\" style=\"word-break: break-word\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/2026-nfl-draft-wild-cards-ty-simpson-caleb-banks-among-10-prospects-who-could-shake-things-up\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks wrote<\/a>. &#8220;But a foot injury limited him to just three games last year, and then he reportedly suffered a broken foot at the combine, apparently sidelining him until June. Banks is a staggering physical specimen \u2013 SEE: 35-inch arm length and 10 7\/8-inch hand size \u2013 but the health woes make him a risky proposition as a potential first-round pick.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pundit Looks at the Ideal Top Two Picks for the Ravens When it comes to the Ravens&#8217; draft&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2052],"tags":[184,117,2282,30253,7,781,786,888,6,53910,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-849346","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-caleb-banks","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-general","14":"tag-homepage-centerpiece","15":"tag-late-for-work","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-olaivavega-ioane","18":"tag-ravens"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116335482857803799","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849346","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=849346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}