Baltimore Ravens Projected to Select Standout Stanford Receiver in NFL Draft

Jason Burke | Jan 2, 2025

Sep 5, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; A general view of a Baltimore Ravens helmet against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

With the NFL regular season winding down, mock drafts are starting to crop up all over the place, and NJ.com recently released their own, which has the Baltimore Ravens taking an impressive wide receiver out of Stanford with the No. 27 pick in the draft.

Lamar Jackson is one of the NFL's best quarterbacks, throwing for 3,955 yards this season, which is more that Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes (3,928) in nearly 140 fewer attempts. Jackson also leads all quarterbacks in yards per completion at 8.9, just edging out Detroit's Jared Goff.

Even with an all-world QB, the Ravens have just one 1,000 yard receiver in Zay Flowers, who has 1,047 yards on the year. The second-most receiving yards on the team belong to Rashod Bateman, who has 680.

The Ravens are 11-5 and hold first place in the AFC North, so there isn't too much to complain about here, but one way they could improve their roster would be by adding Stanford's Elic Ayomanor, who can make plays like this.

ELIC AYOMANOR ARE YOU SERIOUS 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

📺 ESPN#GoStanford | @elicayomanor pic.twitter.com/VjrkZS44vW

— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) September 20, 2024

While his QB at Stanford, Ashton Daniels, has many strong suits, sometimes the consistency just wasn't there from the position. Seeing what Ayomanor could do with a big-time NFL QB tossing him the ball would get a lot of people very excited.

Ayomanor missed his true freshman season due to injury, but broke out in a big way in 2023 with his game against Colorado when he hauled in 13 catches for a school record 294 yards and three TDs. He accumulated all of that in the second half and overtime. Ayomanor went on to catch a total of 62 balls in 2023 for a total of 1,013 yards.

In 2024 he was the focus of most defenses and lacked a big game like the one he had the previous season in terms of stats accrued, but the catch that he made against Syracuse (above) was one of a handful that really stood out for him this past season. He ended up catching 63 passes for 831 yards in Stanford's first season in the ACC.

While there is no guarantee that Ayomanor will be headed to Baltimore come draft day, the Ravens do represent an interesting fit for the former Cardinal wide out. His former QB, Daniels, is also a player that likes to utilize his legs to extend drives, so fitting into the offense may be a little easier for someone like Ayomanor, if that's the direction that the Ravens choose to go.

The NFL Draft is scheduled to take place from April 24-26 at Green Bay's Lambeau Field. Of course, we won't know which pick the Baltimore Ravens will officially have until the NFL playoffs are through, so there is time for them to go up or down, which could have a big impact on whether or not Ayomanor will be there for them, or if there are some other intriguing options for them to consider.

The former Cardinal is currently projected to be a late first or early second rounder, though his own positioning could change during the NFL combine at the end of February.