With the NFL Draft now just a couple of days away, the growing consensus is that the Ravens will snatch a defensive player with their first pick, tentatively set for No. 27 overall when the draft kicks off Thursday, April 24. General manager Eric DeCosta will lean on his “best player available” philosophy, but he has admitted that positional need can influence the pick when trying to decide between two similarly rated players.
To that end, contract urgency and lack of depth could make the outside linebacker position the flavor du jour in the first round. Along with safety, outside linebacker tops the Ravens’ list of positional needs heading into this draft.
Both Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh, who led the team in sacks last year, are scheduled to hit free agency after the season, and questions abound about the current edge rushers behind them.
Van Noy, 34, has delivered more than the Ravens could have hoped for in two seasons with the team. He produced a career-best nine sacks at age 32 in 2023 in his first season with the team, and then he topped that last year with 12.5. Oweh recorded a career-best 10 sacks in 2024 and is now playing on his fifth-year option. The Ravens could look to extend him, or it’s possible Oweh will price himself out of Baltimore as past edge rushers have done.
Given the uncertainty of those two in 2026, finding the next wave of pass rushers is imperative, and it’s unclear whether they are already in the building.
Is David Ojabo ever going to deliver on his second-round promise? Can Adisa Isaac make an impact after a 2024 rookie season essentially wiped out by hamstring injuries? Is Tavius Robinson, who flashed in limited spots in 2024, ready to make another jump and show he can be a starter a year from now?
The Ravens didn’t make any free-agent acquisitions on the edge, which presumably was a win for those unproven players. But it’s also possible, if not likely, that the Ravens will bolster the position early in the draft with an eye toward immediate contribution but also 2026.
The national perception is this class might not have as much elite talent as some years, but DeCosta said it’s a deeper class overall than many others. Speaking at the Ravens predraft news conference last week, DeCosta said he and his staff have 217 players rated on their draft board, and some years they have struggled to compile a list of more than 165. DeCosta cited the offensive line, defensive line and edge rush positions as particularly strong this year.
That depth could play in the Ravens’ favor, as they have 11 picks, with eight of them slated to come on Day 3. Barring any trades, they will pick at No. 27 in the first round on Thursday, then at No. 59 in the second round and No. 91 in the third round on Friday.
If the Ravens indeed try to snag an impact edge rusher in the first round, here are a few candidates who could be on the board for them at No. 27:
Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College
Viewed as slightly undersized at 6-foot-2 and 237 pounds, Ezeiruaku nevertheless showed elite finishing ability with 16.5 sacks this past season. His long arms are effective at shedding blocks and he has good pursuit, although like many young edge rushers, he sometimes loses the edge against the run. Ezeiruaku would join his former teammate Zay Flowers as the only players ever drafted by the Ravens out of Boston College.
James Pearce Jr., Tennessee
Pearce (6-5, 245) will get in the backfield. He has explosive burst and had one of the top pressure rates in college football last season. He totaled 10 sacks for the Volunteers in 2023 and then 7.5 this past season. Some mock drafts have him going by the middle of the first round, others have him lasting into the second round, and a previous traffic-related arrest (charges later dismissed) have raised the character question. The Ravens won’t reach for him if they have him graded lower than 27, but they could see considerable upside if they get Pearce working with their pass-rush coach Chuck Smith. He’s a mile-a-minute player who could make an impact rotationally this year and evolve into a larger role depending on how the position shakes out via free agency next season.
Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M
Stewart looks the part at 6-foot-5 and 247 pounds, and his stock jumped with standout performances at both the Senior Bowl and Combine, but that athleticism hasn’t translated to finishing the job on the field. In 37 games at Texas A&M, Stewart totaled just 4.5 sacks, with no more than 1.5 in a season. He also had one of the highest missed-tackle rates in the country, according to Pro Football Focus. Still, the lack of production hasn’t scared off the Ravens in the past; in 2021, the Ravens drafted Oweh in the first round after a season in which he recorded zero sacks at Penn State. At the time, DeCosta mantained that the athleticism would lead to NFL success, and this past season Oweh produced a career-high 10 sacks in his fourth NFL season.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics and Tennessee Athletics