B+
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens worked the phones like thieves and earned a B+.
by jacksrb2 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 6 steals
· 4 reaches
Call it a hunch or call it a gamble, but the Ravens spent slot 154 on George Gumbs Jr., a name most had 42 spots down the list. It nets out to a B+, which feels about right.
That Lew pick is the receipt they will wave around later. They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through quarterback.
Good work on the whole, with quarterback the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 18 they get a red-zone target to build around. A clean fit for the roster.
They let Chris Johnson come to them and pounced at Round 2, Pick 13. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A market-rate interior defensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Lee Hunter. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Ted Hurst in the Round 3 slot is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A offensive lineman of that caliber at slot 115 is the definition of value, full stop. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A wild overpay on George Gumbs Jr. in pick 154, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Dametrious Crownover slipping to the Round 5 slot is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Nice patience on Demond Claiborne, who had no business lasting to pick No. 173. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A reach on Kaleb Elarms-Orr in the 174th overall pick; the board had better options right there. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Steal is underselling it; Jeff Caldwell at pick 211 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Zavion Thomas in the 235th pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. The roster fit checks out.
They robbed the room for Latrell McCutchin Sr. here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A conviction pick on Bryce Foster at slot 253 that the board grades a round light. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.