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Ravens GM Eric DeCosta: There are 25 'draftable' WRs in the 2020 NFL Draft
The Baltimore Ravens spent the early parts of free agency, ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft, bolstering their defense. The additions of Calais Campbell via a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Dere…
ravenswire.usatoday.com
The Baltimore Ravens spent the early parts of free agency, ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft, bolstering their defense. The additions of Calais Campbell via a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Derek Wolfe in free agency along with Baltimore re-signing a bunch of their own players should boost a defense that ranked fourth in yards allowed last season. But for all the Ravens did defensively already, they haven’t addressed any of their offensive needs.
One such need is at wide receiver, where Baltimore has historically been lacking elite talent. At the Ravens’ pre-draft press conference, general manager Eric DeCosta said he feels there are receivers on the roster ready to “make another jump.” However, he acknowledged the coaches and scouts have “found some guys they’re excited about” in the 2020 NFL Draft. In total, DeCosta said, “there’s probably 25 draftable wideouts in this draft.”
Baltimore would be foolish to not take advantage of that level of depth in this draft class. With quarterback Lamar Jackson winning the NFL’s MVP award last season, now is the time to surround him with even more talent and maximize the offense’s potential.
The Ravens tried to address their wide receiver woes last year, taking Marquise Brown in the first round and Miles Boykin in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Brown had a solid season in spite of an injury-ridden year and Boykin made the occasional big splash. With Baltimore re-signing Willie Snead and Chris Moore, most of the primary group from last season is set to return for 2020.
However, the Ravens’ passing attack struggled to move the ball at times last season when the run game was stymied as well. Though far less frequently than in previous years, untimely drops once again popped up for the pass catchers as well. While Baltimore has a decent group of wide receivers, there’s a clear need to find more depth and even find another top option opposite Brown.
As the Ravens have found out in recent years, resting on their laurels at the position has put them in a massive hole. Previously, Baltimore would drop few draft selections at wide receiver and then largely ignore the position with the hope someone would pan out. When that didn’t happen, the Ravens had to turn to older players as stop-gap solutions, asking them to do far too much and getting rather mediocre results in return.
Finding a starting-caliber wide receiver should be easy to do in the 2020 NFL Draft with some of the top options potentially being true No. 1 guy. If Baltimore has identified so many wide receivers they like, they need to ensure they land one or two of them in the 2020 NFL Draft.