Marshall linebacker Mike Green lined up on the left side and fired off the edge at the snap. He made a slight deke to the inside, which got Ohio State tackle Josh Fryar leaning the wrong way for just a split-second. That was long enough. By the time Fryar recovered, Green had made a spin move to the outside, had blown past Fryar and chased down Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard for an 11-yard loss.
That athleticism jumped off the tape to Ravens scouts, which is why the team pounced when Green was available in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft.
In selecting Green, the Ravens hope they have found a long-term anchor for their edge rush group that could face upheaval after this season, with Kyle Van Noy, Odafe Oweh and David Ojabo all set to hit free agency.
But they also invited significant scrutiny by selecting a player who twice faced sexual assault allegations when he was younger. (Green has denied wrongdoing and was never charged.) The pick also came with the Ravens in the midst of an active NFL investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by kicker Justin Tucker (who was subsequently released).
Speaking about an hour after the team drafted Green, general manager Eric DeCosta said, “We understand the severity of what these allegations were, of course, but doing our due diligence, we are comfortable with Mike. … I’m glad we got him.”
Long Wait
DeCosta was also surprised he got him. Neither Green nor DeCosta expected Green to be available when the Ravens were on the clock at No. 59 overall.
The 6-foot-3, 248-pound linebacker was viewed as a top-20 talent after leading the nation with 17 sacks in 2024. ESPN’s Mel Kiper had Green ranked No. 18 on his board.
But Green’s past raised red flags. A native of Newport News, Va., Green began his college career at Virginia but abruptly left the team in September 2022 and transferred to Marshall, where he blossomed into an All-American.
Meeting with the media at the NFL Scouting Combine, Green candidly explained that he had left Virginia because of a sexual assault accusation made against him. He denied the allegation and was never charged. He said that he was never even questioned. But after facing a different sexual assault allegation in high school, Green had signed a no-tolerance policy at Virginia, and that triggered his departure and move to Marshall.
Green’s on-field production was undeniable this past season. Flashing explosive power and a relentless motor, he finished with 84 tackles and recorded at least one sack in 10 of 13 games.
“He’s a relentless player,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. “He plays like a guy that really cares. … He’s physical, he’s aggressive, he plays the kind of football that we like to play.”
Still, as the second night of the draft dragged on, it seemed apparent that Green’s background was a mounting liability.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that some teams had found Green’s explanations of the allegations “not satisfactory” and had dropped Green from their draft boards. Many observers expected the Ravens to be among them.
For years since the Ray Rice incident in 2014, public perception had been that the Ravens had a zero-tolerance policy toward players regarding misconduct toward women. The team did little to dissuade that notion, but this past spring, in the midst of the investigation into Tucker, team officials clarified that no such policy exists and that any cases will be handled on an individual basis.
DeCosta said the team “diligently investigated” Green’s situation. Scouts and other team officials vetted Green by talking to multiple people at both Virginia and Marshall. DeCosta also said he spent extensive one-on-one time with Green at the team’s Owings Mills facility during a predraft visit.
Harbaugh described the due diligence as “exhaustive.”
Then, he added, “We made a decision based on what we felt was fair.”
Videos showed Green overcome with emotion as DeCosta made the call to inform him that his long draft wait was over. Green called it a “blessing in disguise” to land with a team for whom relentless defense has been a franchise cornerstone.
Speaking at rookie minicamp in early May, Green acknowledged that the allegations might have damaged his draft status, but he said, “You really just need one team to choose you, and that happened to be the Ravens, and I’m just blessed to be here. … I’m just focused on moving forward with my life and with my career.”
Immediate Impact
If Green’s college tape translates to the practice field this summer, defensive coordinator Zach Orr will find ways to get him on the field. Harbaugh has said that he expects Green to “make a mark” from “Day One.”
Orr and the Ravens have stressed that their pass rush doesn’t just come off the edge. They show multiple looks and like to disguise pressure. In 2024, the Ravens were second in the league with 54 sacks, and 17 players recorded at least one. Van Noy led the way with 12.5.
But for a team trying to win an AFC loaded with high-octane passing attacks led by Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen and others, an impact edge rush is critical.
Van Noy and Oweh are established starters but both could be gone after this season, and depth beyond those two is questionable. Tavius Robinson recorded 3.5 sacks last year and showed promise in bursts, but the Ravens are still waiting for a significant impact from Ojabo. Ditto for Adisa Isaac, a third-round pick a year ago who missed most of his rookie season with hamstring injuries.
Van Noy has produced more than the Ravens could have hoped for when they signed him early in the 2023 season. He set a career-best with nine sacks that year and then topped that last season. The Ravens would like to ration the 34-year-old’s snaps throughout the long grind of a season.
Oweh, meanwhile, is coming off the first double-digit sack year of his career, with 10. With another strong season, he’ll get paid handsomely next spring. The Ravens could try to extend him, but Oweh could join a long line of players that the Ravens draft, develop and then wish well when the price tag gets too high.
Oweh said he expects big things from Isaac, his former teammate at Penn State. “He’s ready to go,” Oweh said.
(Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox)
The Ravens have been waiting for that from Ojabo — Oweh’s high school teammate — for three years, and his time could be running out. He lost most of his first two seasons to injuries and has had little impact for someone who was once viewed as a potential top-15 pick.
DeCosta always must have one eye on the long view, and next year’s edge group could look quite different. In Green, DeCosta is making a bet on his character while also hoping that he can grow to become the Ravens’ most dominant edge rusher since Terrell Suggs. If he’s right, Green could prove to be one of the steals of the 2025 draft.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Marshall Athletics, Kenya Allen/PressBox
Originally published June 18, 2025