More overwhelmingly positive grades for the Ravens 2022 Draft Class

With the 2022 NFL Draft officially in the books, report cards continue to roll out for all 32 teams in the league and the Baltimore Ravens passed with flying colors. General Manager Eric DeCosta came away with an outstanding haul in which he addressed several needs, created a big one, and got tremendous value with nearly every selection he made starting with Notre Dame star safety Kyle Hamilton with his first and standout Missouri standout running back Tyler Badie with his last.

“The Ravens are the living embodiment of the “He can’t keep getting away with it!” meme. Baltimore put on a clinic for shrewd drafting over the weekend, exercising patience as good players repeatedly fell directly into their laps. The team started the weekend off with a pair of day-one picks after trading receiver Marquise Brown to the Cardinals for no. 23 overall, using those selections to address two of the team’s biggest needs by taking my top-ranked safety in Notre Dame’s Kyle Hamilton and my top-ranked center in Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum. The Ravens took a top-15 talent in Michigan pass rusher David Ojabo with their first pick on day two, smartly rolling the dice that the former Wolverine will regain his prior form after suffering an Achilles tear at his pro day. Then they added an arbitrage version of Jordan Davis by taking UConn’s Travis Jones in the early third round. Jones is a massive run-plugging nose tackle with elite athleticism and should contribute from day one. I liked a handful of their day-three picks, too: Minnesota offensive tackle Daniel Faalele is a massive road-grader with surprisingly nimble feet, while tight ends Charlie Kolar and Isaiah Likely are both versatile pass-catching weapons for Lamar Jackson.” - Danny Kelly, The Ringer

Grade: A+

“The Ravens continue to demonstrate their mastery of the draft even with the person who set the standard, former GM Ozzie Newsome, no longer in charge. The Ravens emerged with four high-quality players capable of having a significant impact: S Kyle Hamilton, C Tyler Linderbaum, pass rusher David Ojabo and DT Travis Jones. The loss of WR Marquise Brown in the trade with the Cardinals was a reasonable price to pay for dealing back into the first round for Linderbaum. Jones in the third round and T Daniel Faalele in the fourth were tremendous values.” - Mark Maske, The Washington Post

Grade: A

“Over the weekend, I tweeted “I want to marry this Ravens draft,” which should give you a sense how I felt about it. Soon thereafter, they drafted a punter in Round 4, which I didn’t love, but now that the draft is over, I still have deep adoration for what Baltimore did. Kyle Hamilton was my No. 1 prospect, Ojabo was a tremendous stash. Charlie Kolar gave me Mark Andrews vibes on film, and Daniel Faalele is an Orlando Brown type. Jalyn Armour-Davis has No. 1 CB abilities.” - Chris Trapasso, CBS Sports

Grade: A-

“Critics will ask: Hey, if the Ravens are so good at this draft thing, why aren’t they winning the Super Bowl every year? We hear you, but they do have the NFL’s fifth-best record since 2008 and have made the playoffs nine times since then. They know how to find talent and value in the draft, as this year once again shows. Hamilton, Linderbaum, Jones and Stout should factor in right away, and Ojabo, Faalele and Armour-Davis are terrific players who fit their mold to groom for the long term. We’d have loved to see more WR help, but every selection they made had thought and sense behind it.” - Eric Edholm, Yahoo Sports

Grade: A-

“All told, the Ravens likely walked away from this draft with four solid starters within the next two years. That’s not even factoring in a few Day 3 picks with high upside, including massive offensive lineman Daniel Faalele and a pair of tight ends in Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar.” - Alex Ballentine, Bleacher Report Grade: A+

“The first three picks for Baltimore were great and then it looked like they were just doing a Madden simulation. They drafted arguably the best safety in Kyle Hamilton, a great center in Tyler Linderbaum and a reliable OLB in David Ojabo. They proceeded to draft two tight ends, a punter, and yet another running back over their last eight selections. They also traded WR Marquise Brown in the first round of the draft and chose not to replace him with a later draft selection.” - Teddy Ricketson and LTruscott, DK Nation

Grade: B

“Their first selection was spent on Notre Dame’s multi-talented Kyle Hamilton, who might have been a top-five pick if he didn’t play safety. GM Eric DeCosta followed that up with a stunning trade of WR Marquise Brown, one that brought another first-rounder back to Baltimore and was ultimately used on highly regarded C Tyler Linderbaum. Third-round DL Travis Jones could be a steal. Then a team crippled by injuries last season reloaded with scads of quality depth in the middle rounds. But you really had to like the fit of second-round pass rusher David Ojabo, who only fell that far because of an Achilles injury suffered at Michigan’s pro day. Prior to that, Ojabo blossomed into a star in 2021 under the tutelage of defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who returned to Baltimore this offseason to assume the same job. Who better than Macdonald to optimize a somewhat raw – but Round 1-caliber – talent like Ojabo once he’s ready to play again?” - Nate Davis, USA Today Sports

Grade: A