Day 2 of the draft saw the Ravens again stand pat and make both of their selections in the second and third rounds. At No. 62 overall, they drafted offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten out of Washington. Then, 31 picks later, they selected Penn State edge rusher Adisa Issac with pick No. 93.
What are the ramifications of these selections? Let’s break down winners and losers from the team’s moves on Friday night.
Winner: Offensive line rebuild
Talk of rebuilding or retooling the offensive has dominated much of the offseason and draft discourse in Baltimore. After passing on taking an offensive tackle in Round 1, the Ravens quickly landed one at No. 62 overall. An early run on wide receivers and cornerbacks in the second round helped some of the top remaining tackle prospects slide and the Ravens had their choice among a few players.
The selection of Rosengarten won’t magically answer all of their question marks on the offensive line. They’re still in the process of trying to replace three departed starters at both guard positions and right tackle, which is a significant overhaul. However, it’s a step in the right direction and provides the Ravens with another quality starting option, as well as more versatility and flexibility between both guard and tackle spots.
Loser: Daniel Faalele
In drafting Rosengarten in the second round, the Ravens are adding an immediate potential frontrunner to win the starting right tackle job. That doesn’t spell great things for Daniel Faalele, who has been waiting in the wings behind Morgan Moses for the past two seasons.
The former 2022 fourth-round pick still possesses elite size and untapped potential but has struggled at times in limited opportunities to-date. Faalele has a lot of room for development and refinement but was thought to be potentially be the long-term successor at right tackle. Instead, he’ll now have to compete with Rosengarten — among others as well — who comes into the league as a more polished and NFL-ready prospect.
Faalele needs to make major strides this summer to avoid backup status again in Year 3. If the Ravens felt especially confident in his projection, maybe they wait to take a tackle in Round 3 or instead take an interior offensive lineman to fill one of the guard spots.
Winner: Pass rush
The Ravens lost a good portion of their pass-rush production from 2023 this offseason with the departures of Jadeveon Clowney and Patrick Queen. Their edge rusher room is young and relatively unproven outside of Kyle Van Noy, the lone veteran, and to a lesser extend Odafe Oweh.
In drafting Issac, the Ravens are acquiring another talented pass-rusher at that position who’s demonstrated playmaking and game-wrecking ability. Over his past two seasons at Penn State, Issac recorded 13 sacks and nearly 70 quarterback pressures, with a pass rush win rate of 13.1%. Similar to the “you can never have too many cornerbacks” mantra, it never hurts to have too many capable defenders that can get after the quarterback.
Issac has a lot of room for development but projects as an immediate contributor given he’s also a capable run defender as well.
Loser: David Ojabo and Tavius Robinson
Ojabo and Robinson are the last two edge rushers the Ravens have drafted. Ojabo, a second-round pick in 2022, has unfortunately missed essentially all of his first two seasons due to injuries. His rookie year was a redshirt campaign but a potential sophomore breakout season was thwarted by an early lower-body injury that turned into a season-ender.
Robinson was drafted in the fourth round last year and played minimal defensive snaps as a rookie. After losing Clowney in free agency, both players were in-line to see their opportunities increase at the edge rusher spot. That still may be true to an extent, but the addition of Issac as a third-round pick makes the situation more murky now.
The Ravens could have very well used the No. 93 overall pick to select a wide receiver or interior offensive lineman. Instead, they opted to add another edge rusher, which was arguably less of a need. Issac will add more competition into the room and vie for snaps right away with these other two young players. Their margin for error to carve out a bigger role and increase their snaps now decreases.
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