It’s a tradition unlike any other: Pundits breathlessly give out draft grades within seconds of the final pick. But it takes a few years for any team to truly know the full scope of a certain draft class. That might be especially true for the Ravens’ draft class of 2023. One year in, the overall grade for that group would probably be “incomplete,” considering half of the Ravens’ six 2023 picks — their smallest draft class since 2009 — didn’t play a down for the team last season.
This year, though, those players could be asked to do much more as the Ravens deal with major roster turnover. Via free agency, trade or release, the Ravens have lost more than a dozen players from their AFC North championship team.
General manager Eric DeCosta last fall acknowledged that with quarterback Lamar Jackson now on a record-setting deal, the roster-building process must shift, and the impact of young draft picks (read: cheaper players) will need to be more pronounced and critical to the team’s success.
Head coach John Harbaugh has said that many players make their largest jump from Year One to Year Two, once they are more familiar with the team’s system and more comfortable with the NFL grind. With that in mind, here is a look at the Ravens’ 2023 draft class, what they accomplished last season and what success in Year Two might look like.
(Note: This does not include fifth-round pick Kyu Blu Kelly, the Stanford cornerback who was let go in the final roster cutdown and then bounced from Seattle to Green Bay to Washington as a rookie.)
WR ZAY FLOWERS (FIRST ROUND, NO. 22 OVERALL)
From the first week of training camp, Flowers was everything the Ravens had hoped he would be as their first pick in the draft. Flowers quickly established rapport with Jackson and became the Ravens’ top wide receiver. He finished with 77 catches for 858 yards — both records for a Ravens rookie — and six touchdowns, including one rushing.
With his shifty speed and his elusive jukes in the open field, Flowers piled up 391 yards after the catch, the most by a Ravens wide receiver since Mike Wallace in 2016. After just one year, Flowers has shown he could become that rare drafted wide receiver who is in Baltimore for the long haul.
Year Two progress for Flowers would mean: Flowers becomes just the third Ravens wide receiver drafted by the team to top the 1,000-yard mark with the team, joining Torrey Smith and Marquise Brown. The Ravens continue to say all the right things about Rashod Bateman, but Flowers has established himself as the top weapon in the passing game not named Mark Andrews.
The Ravens have added All-Pro running back Derrick Henry, and it remains to be seen how that affects the team’s passing game. But 1,100 receiving yards, eight or more touchdowns and strong Pro Bowl consideration for Flowers should be within reach.
ILB TRENTON SIMPSON (THIRD ROUND, NO. 86 OVERALL)
Barring a Josh Bynes-type veteran signing, not many Ravens will have greater opportunity this year than Simpson, who figures to succeed Patrick Queen and play alongside Pro Bowl linebacker Roquan Smith in the middle of the Ravens’ defense.
When the Ravens drafted Simpson in the third round out of Clemson last year, this appeared to be the road map all along. With Smith signed to a $100 million extension, Queen’s 2024 departure was viewed as a likely repercussion, and indeed, Queen signed with the archrival Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent. Now Simpson is the next man up.
Simpson played primarily on special teams as a rookie, but in the regular-season finale, when the Ravens opted to rest several starters, he showed off the speed and instincts that initially drew the Ravens to him. Simpson had a sack and finished with 13 tackles.
Year Two progress for Simpson would mean: He slots in seamlessly as the starter, absorbing everything he can from Smith and showing the pursuit and open-field tackling that he flashed in that regular-season finale. He also demonstrates coverage ability that makes new coordinator Zach Orr keep him on the field as a three-down linebacker. Inside linebackers pile up tackles in the Ravens’ system, so if Simpson is healthy and consistent, 90 tackles and 3.5 sacks — Queen’s total last year — are realistic totals.
OLB TAVIUS ROBINSON (FOURTH ROUND, NO. 124 OVERALL)
Robinson was an intriguing pick last season after a collegiate career that began in his native Canada at the University of Guelph and ended at Mississippi. Robinson’s size stands out at 6-foot-6, but he spent most of his rookie season playing behind veteran acquisitions Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy. Robinson had a more prominent role on special teams than on defense, not unusual for rookie fourth-round picks.
Robinson played in all 17 games, averaging about 20 snaps a game on defense, though he had fewer than 10 snaps in five games. He finished with 26 tackles and a sack on defense, plus one tackle on special teams.
Year Two progress for Robinson would mean: He moves into the regular rotation on the edge, which for the second straight season figures to have some uncertainty when training camp begins. Van Noy re-signed with the Ravens on a two-year deal, but Clowney signed a free-agent deal with the Carolina Panthers. Additionally, Tyus Bowser and his problematic knee are gone, and David Ojabo’s promising career remains clouded by injury.
With that roster turnover and a strong summer, Robinson has a chance to get on the field more this season. If he works into the regular rotation, he could post 45 tackles and three sacks, roughly the second-year totals for Odafe Oweh, who for now anchors that edge rush group along with Van Noy.
G MALAESALA AUMAVAE-LAULU (SIXTH ROUND, NO. 199 OVERALL)
Harbaugh raised some eyebrows last summer when he declared that Aumavae-Laulu was a candidate to win the Week 1 starting job at left guard. Instead, veteran John Simpson beat him out and held that spot all season. ‘Sala,’ as he’s known, did not see any action. He was a game day inactive in 13 of 17 games and did not play in the other four games.
Year Two progress for Aumavae-Laulu would mean: He gets on the field. The Ravens have lost both Simpson and Pro Bowl right guard Kevin Zeitler to free agency, so both guard spots appear to be up for grabs. The Ravens have praised Aumavae-Laulu’s physicality, and they would love to see his career arc mimic that of Ben Powers, a Day Three draft pick in 2019 who played in just one game as a rookie but steadily grew into a front-line starter.
G ANDREW VORHEES (SEVENTH ROUND, NO. 229 OVERALL)
Vorhees represents one of the more intriguing picks in the 2023 draft. The Ravens had pretty much wrapped up their draft process when they jumped back into the seventh round to grab Vorhees, who tore his ACL at the Scouting Combine but then still went out and led all Combine players with 38 reps on the bench press.
The Ravens sent a 2024 sixth-round pick to Cleveland for the chance to select Vorhees, a first-team All-American at USC. As he rehabbed his knee injury, Vorhees spent the entire 2023 season on the Non-Football Injury list, but he was a regular presence at the team facility, watching and learning from players such as Zeitler.
Year Two progress for Vorhees would mean: One full year removed from his ACL injury, Vorhees competes for a starting job and shows why the Ravens had a Day Two draft grade on him before his injury. Vorhees started at left guard in his final season at USC and also started 25 games at right guard for the Trojans. With the Ravens having lost both Zeitler and Simpson, the door is open, and Vorhees has been waiting a year for his chance.
Photo Credits: Kenya Allen/PressBox, Colin Murphy/PressBox and Courtesy of USC Athletics