{"id":870531,"date":"2026-04-20T09:46:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T09:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/870531\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T09:46:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T09:46:00","slug":"meet-the-4-top-prospects-who-fit-the-ravens-draft-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/870531\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the 4 top prospects who fit the Ravens\u2019 draft strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Join the huddle. Sign up here<\/a> for Ravens updates in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Six weeks ago, for the first time in over a decade, Eric DeCosta didn\u2019t have a first-round pick in the NFL draft. Then a deal for Maxx Crosby fell through and the Ravens general manager\u2019s Day 1 plans changed. <\/p>\n

\u201cI had kind of taken a Sharpie and X-ed out about 25 players on my list that we weren\u2019t going to have a chance to select,\u201d DeCosta said last month, after the team backed out of the deal for the Las Vegas Raiders\u2019 star edge rusher over apparent medical concerns<\/a>. \u201cI have to make a new list and have those players back on the list.\u201d<\/p>\n

It might not be a long list. Only a handful of prospects have been consistently connected to the Ravens\u2019 No. 14 overall pick. And, if the team\u2019s recent draft history is any indication, the pool of players DeCosta considers worthy of that pick Thursday night could be far shallower. <\/p>\n

So where will he look? Here are nine players who\u2019ve been linked to the Ravens\u2019 top pick over the past two weeks \u2014 and here are the questions that might\u2019ve mattered as team officials sorted their draft board. <\/p>\n

Wide receiver: Arizona State\u2019s Jordyn Tyson, USC\u2019s Makai LemonTight end: Oregon\u2019s Kenyon SadiqOffensive line: Miami\u2019s Francis Mauigoa, Utah\u2019s Spencer Fano, Penn State\u2019s Vega IoaneEdge rusher: Miami\u2019s Rueben BainCornerback: Tennessee\u2019s Jermod McCoy, LSU\u2019s Mansoor DelaneWas he a multisport athlete?<\/p>\n

Every Ravens first-round pick since 2014 played a sport besides football in high school or as a teenager, according to publicly available information. Those sports have ranged from basketball (safety Kyle Hamilton) to wrestling (center Tyler Linderbaum) to baseball (inside linebacker Patrick Queen) to track and field (safety Malaki Starks).<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayers that have had outstanding success at another sport gives you a little bit of insight to how they\u2019re wired, their competitiveness, ability to master a craft or a sport and their discipline,\u201d DeCosta said after the 2024 draft. \u201cIt\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the nine prospects linked to the Ravens, just one appeared to limit his adolescent athletic interests to football: USC\u2019s Lemon.<\/p>\n

Did he play for a \u2018power conference\u2019 school?<\/p>\n

Other than wide receiver Breshad Perriman (Central Florida), every first-round pick since 2014 has come from a school competing at the time in a so-called power conference. <\/p>\n

This year, three of the Ravens\u2019 nine potential targets played in the Big Ten Conference, and two apiece played in the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big 12 Conference. None played for a \u201cGroup of Five\u201d school \u2014 the level below the current \u201cPower Four\u201d conferences \u2014 or in the Football Championship Subdivision. <\/p>\n

Small-school scouting is \u201cjust different,\u201d DeCosta said in 2024, in part because of the structural disadvantages at that level. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got guys that look like me, at times, playing,\u201d said DeCosta, who was an undersize linebacker at Division III Colby College. \u201cAnd yet some guys end up being the best to ever do it, right? How do you find those guys? … It\u2019s really hard to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson tore three ligaments in his left knee when he was at Colorado in 2022. (Christian Petersen\/Getty Images)Does he have character or medical concerns?<\/p>\n

The Ravens have generally avoided spending top picks on players with medical red flags or reported character flaws. And when DeCosta has gambled on injuries in the first round, he\u2019s made smart bets: Wide receiver Marquise \u201cHollywood\u201d Brown suffered a Lisfranc (foot) injury in his last year at Oklahoma that required surgery and an extensive rehabilitation. Inside linebacker C.J. Mosley entered the draft with durability concerns. But both were durable over their Ravens careers.<\/p>\n

A couple of top prospects in this year\u2019s class could fall on the Ravens\u2019 board because of medical issues. Tyson tore the ACL, MCL and PCL in his left knee at Colorado in 2022, ending his true-freshman year and sidelining him for most of his first season at Arizona State. He also broke his collarbone in 2024, hurt his ankle last offseason and has dealt with a hamstring injury that limited him to nine games last year and has hampered his predraft process.<\/p>\n

Tennessee\u2019s McCoy missed the entire 2025 season as he recovered from a torn ACL he suffered during offseason training in January 2025. He did not participate in testing or drills at the NFL scouting combine in February but ran a 4.4-second 40-yard dash and posted a 10-foot, 7-inch broad jump \u2014 both impressive figures for a cornerback \u2014 at Tennessee\u2019s pro day this month. <\/p>\n

Miami\u2019s Mauigoa submitted to medical rechecks relating to a minor back injury this month, but teams reportedly<\/a> found no new issues. <\/p>\n

A handful of other potential targets have had their character scrutinized during the predraft process. USC\u2019s Lemon went viral for his awkward approach<\/a> at his combine news conference with reporters, and he reportedly did not impress<\/a> during interviews with teams in Indianapolis. Lemon also was benched for the first quarter of his final home game at USC, a November win over UCLA, for a violation of team rules.<\/p>\n

Miami\u2019s Bain was reportedly driving a car involved in a March 2024 crash in which a passenger later died<\/a> because of injuries sustained in the accident. Bain was cited for careless driving, but charges were dropped before the passenger, a 22-year-old college student, died in June 2024. No field sobriety tests were given, according to the crash report.<\/p>\n

The incident is unlikely to affect his standing on the Ravens\u2019 draft board. Four of five unnamed evaluators around the NFL told Yahoo Sports they did not believe Bain\u2019s driving history \u2014 he also had a minor collision in October 2025 \u2014 would impact his draft stock<\/a>. And DeCosta took outside linebacker Mike Green in the second round last year despite far greater scrutiny<\/a> of his off-field conduct. <\/p>\n

Has he been recognized for leadership? <\/p>\n

Nearly half of all Ravens first-round picks since 2014 were named team captains during their college careers, either permanently or as game day captains. Four of DeCosta\u2019s past five first-rounders \u2014 Hamilton, Linderbaum, wide receiver Zay Flowers and Starks \u2014 were captains, while cornerback Nate Wiggins earned teamwide postseason honors for his consistency and hustle. <\/p>\n

Four of the nine prospects linked to the Ravens were not recognized for their leadership last season: Penn State\u2019s Ioane, LSU\u2019s Delane, Tennessee\u2019s McCoy and USC\u2019s Lemon.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tennessee cornberback Jermod McCoy is 20 years old. (Brian Bahr\/Getty Images)Is he an older prospect?<\/p>\n

Of the Ravens\u2019 23 first- and second-round picks since 2014, four were only 20 when selected \u2014 cornerback Marlon Humphrey, quarterback Lamar Jackson, Queen and Wiggins \u2014 and another 12 were 21, including Starks and Green last year. DeCosta said after drafting Wiggins in 2024 that the Ravens loved his youth and room for growth at age 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a young guy, but that\u2019s opportunity, the way we look at it,\u201d former coach John Harbaugh said. \u201cHe\u2019s planning on being a hard worker, and if he does that, we\u2019ve got a path for him. We\u2019ve kind of got a plan for him, and we\u2019ll have him ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only two of the Ravens\u2019 nine potential targets this year will be 22 on Thursday. Penn State\u2019s Ioane turned 22 on Friday, while LSU\u2019s Delane will turn 23 in December. Tennessee\u2019s McCoy and Miami\u2019s Mauigoa, meanwhile, won\u2019t turn 21 until this summer. <\/p>\n

Would he be considered a \u2018reach\u2019?<\/p>\n

This question seems especially resonant this year. DeCosta said at his predraft news conference Wednesday that \u201cthere\u2019s definitely a drop-off probably midway through the round in terms of talent.\u201d Draft experts have made similar assessments; ESPN\u2019s Matt Miller has just 12 players with first-round grades in the class<\/a>, while The Ringer\u2019s Todd McShay has said officials around the league believe there are about 15 players in the draft\u2019s top two tiers. <\/p>\n

In recent drafts, the Ravens have almost never strayed far from the wisdom of the crowd. According to the NFL Mock Draft Database, which collates published draft boards to form a \u201cconsensus\u201d big board each year<\/a>, the Ravens have drafted just one player in the first round since 2016 who was ranked at least four spots \u201cbehind\u201d the team\u2019s draft slot. In 2018, tight end Hayden Hurst was ranked the No. 36 overall player on the consensus big board, only to be taken 25th. (Jackson, meanwhile, was rated 15th and lasted until the 32nd pick.)<\/p>\n

This year, all nine potential targets are within the Ravens\u2019 typical range, though Arizona State\u2019s Tyson (No. 15 overall), Penn State\u2019s Ioane (No. 16) and Oregon\u2019s Sadiq (No. 17 overall) landed below the Ravens\u2019 No. 14 slot on the consensus big board.<\/p>\n

So … who\u2019s the \u2018cleanest\u2019 prospect?<\/p>\n

Only four of the nine prospects were multisport athletes, played for a power conference school, have no reported character issues or medical concerns, served as a team captain, will be 21 or younger when drafted and are a consensus top-16 talent:<\/p>\n

Utah offensive lineman Spencer FanoMiami offensive lineman Francis MauigoaOregon tight end Kenyon SadiqMiami edge rusher Rueben Bain<\/p>\n

Last year, Starks met every criterion. In 2024, Wiggins checked every box except leadership \u2014 and he was still recognized<\/a> for his contributions there anyway. <\/p>\n

Will DeCosta stick to the script? Or will he roll the dice again in an offseason of change?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to be too predictable,\u201d DeCosta said Wednesday. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to be typecasted as looking for certain types of players or doing something every single draft or whatever that might be. But I think every situation is different.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Join the huddle. Sign up here for Ravens updates in your inbox. Six weeks ago, for the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2052],"tags":[265,184,117,2282,7,6,169],"class_list":{"0":"post-870531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baltimore-ravens","8":"tag-american-football","9":"tag-baltimore","10":"tag-baltimore-ravens","11":"tag-baltimoreravens","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-ravens"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116436405095607383","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870531","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=870531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}