Why the Ravens Didn't Take A Wide Receiver in 2022 NFL Draft

Baltimore still has depth at wideout.

OWINGS MILLS, Md — After the Ravens traded Marquise Brown to the Arizona Cardinals, it seemed inevitable they would take a wide receiver in the draft.

It didn't happen. 

The Ravens reportedly had their sights on Calvin Austin III of Memphis in the fourth round, but the Steelers grabbed him with 138th pick. Baltimore selected tight end Isaiah Likely with the next pick.

In the end, the Ravens did not select a wideout but they reportedly brought in several undrafted rookies to try and make the roster. 

“I think, honestly, the fact that there was a run of receivers in the first round like there was … I wouldn’t say it was a great receiver class in general, compared to some of the years," Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said. "There were very good players at the top. So, for us, it was a good draft, and there were really good players at other positions. There were some receivers that we liked; we tried to take a couple guys at different points. But, again, one of the phenomenon’s that we’ve seen is that those receivers get picked really, really early now. Similar to corner, they just fly off the board – in some cases, maybe a round to a round and a half earlier than you’d expect. 

"I said this last year, but we like our receivers, we do. We’ve seen growth, we’ve seen our guys mature and develop."

The Ravens have a young group of wide receivers on the current roster with Rashod Bateman, a first-round pick last year, headlining this group. Baltimore also has Devin Duvernay, James, and Tylan Wallace pushing for more playing time. 

The Ravens also reportedly signed several undrafted wide receivers, including  Makai Polk (Mississippi State), Slade Bolden (Alabama), Trevon Clark (California), Emeka Emezie (North Carolina State), and Devon Williams (Oregon) to compete for jobs.

Likely also plays like a big-bodied wide receiver. 

The Ravens could also sign a veteran or two to upgrade the passing attack, which ranked 13th in the NFL in 2021.

"We took ‘Bate’ [Rashod Bateman] last year; he was our first-round guy, and I think he’s going to show you why," DeCosta said. "Devin, we have a theory that guys that end up playing on special teams and being really good special teams players end up being really good position players. We think Devin is a great young player. We took Tylan last year, and kind of the same thing. He’s a young player and we were very excited to get him last year. He’s a guy last year that we got in the fourth round, that we probably would have taken a round and a half earlier last year. Then we have James, and James made a jump last year and made some critical plays in games. 

"So, we like our group. We will add players to the mix. We’re doing that right now, and we’ll look at veteran players as well. It wasn’t really by design that we wanted to create a hole on the team. I don’t look at it that way, but in this business, you pivot, you dodge, you weave – you’re always really going to be chasing a need."