Ravens winners & losers from 2024 NFL Draft

Current players on the roster who will benefit or be hurt the most by the arrival of this year’s rookie class.

The Baltimore Ravens loaded up with a bevy of young talent over the course of the 2024 NFL Draft. General manager Eric DeCosta stayed in the team’s original slots, let the board fall to them and made nine picks including some incredible values with each of their first five selections through the first four rounds.

Every year, the arrival of new inexpensive talent via the draft can greatly benefit the chances of current players already on the roster to succeed or make the team for the upcoming season. However, the influx of new blood could also severely diminish the odds of other players lower on the depth chart whose positions were addressed with the addition of talented and often highly drafted prospects.

Here are current Ravens players who came out of the weekend as the biggest winners and losers following the 2024 NFL Draft.

Draft picks

• Clemson DB Nate Wiggins (No. 30 overall)
• Washington OT Roger Rosengarten (No. 62)
• Penn State LB Adisa Isaac (No. 93)
• North Carolina WR Devontez Walker (No. 113)
• Iowa State DB T.J. Tampa (No. 130)
• Marshall RB Rasheen Ali (No. 165)
• Kentucky QB Devin Leary (No. 218)
• Michigan State C Nick Samac (No. 228)
• Purdue DB Sanoussi Kane (No. 250)

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Winners

Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images

QB Lamar Jackson — The two-time league MVP got his potential next starting right tackle of the present and blindside protector of the future who didn’t give up a single sack in college in Rosengarten. He also has a pair of explosive new playmakers at his disposal in Walker who can stack the top off of defenses with blazing speed and Ali who is a dynamic weapon both as a runner and out of the backfield.

In-house OG options — Many pundits predicted the Ravens would add another interior offensive lineman to compete for one of their two starting guard vacancies long before they took Samac in the seventh round. Even though he will be cross-trained at guard according to head coach John Harbaugh, he will primarily serve as the backup to 2023 Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum.

This means the pathway to seizing one of the two open spots hasn’t changed for second-year pros Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu and Andrew Vorhees who were both late Day 3 selections last year. For 2021 third-rounder Ben Cleveland who is entering the final year of his rookie contract, he has a golden opportunity to cash in next offseason if he wins the starting right guard spot. Fifth-year veteran Josh Jones shouldn’t be ruled out in the running for one of the two spots either as a potential dark horse candidate in a similar way to how John Simpson was last year.

DC Zach Orr — The Ravens went defense with three of their top five picks and each of them wasn’t just outstanding value but they are talented prospects who a talented enough to come and contribute right away for the the first-year defensive coordinator tasked with filling the big shoes left by Mike Macdonald. Wiggins will likely be in a three-man rotation at outside corner where he may not make a single start but still sees the field early and often.

Isaac was a good finisher in college and can carve out a role for himself as a situational pass rusher in his first year in the league and rotate with his fellow former Nittany Lion Odafe Oweh at the RUSH outside linebacker spot. Tampa will provide great depth as a rookie who could wind up playing some key snaps as part of a rotation when the seemingly inevitable injuries occur for the Ravens at this position every year—knock on wood. Although Kane will certainly be competing for a core special teams spot, he also has the physical dimensions and athletic profile to play dime linebacker in sub-packages where he can cover and hit anything that moves in the box.

OC Todd Monken — The second-year offensive coordinator got one of the most athletic offensive linemen in this year’s class in Rosengarten who is not only lights out in pass protection and finishes with authority in the run game but is both nimble and agile when he’s on the move. Monken’s scheme specialized in getting skill position players the ball in space, forcing opposing defenses to have to defend more of the field and Rosengarten will be a force on pulls and screens in a similar way that Morgan Moses was when healthy the past two seasons.

Walker brings the kind of vertical field-stretching element and big-bodied presence on the boundary Ravens fans have been clamoring for and that the offense hasn’t really had in a while to the degree he can impact a game plan. Ali is another exciting playmaker who Monken can scheme up ways to get the ball to in space or on traditional running plays in a regular backfield rotation.

OLB Kyle Van Noy — The addition of Isaac paired with the return to health of David Ojabo further helps offset the loss of three-time Pro Bowler Jadeveon Clowney in free agency which will lessen the burden on the Van Noy. While the 10-year veteran and two-time Super Bowl champion is coming off a career year in terms of sack production and is slated to the the Ravens’ starting SAM outside linebacker, he was most effective in a rotation on the edge last season. The more young talent to lighten his workload, the more potent of a pass rusher he will be over the next two years.

RB Derrick Henry — Ali is another talented player at the position who helps lighten the four-time Pro Bowlers workload throughout the season but especially early on while last year’s undrafted gem Keaton Mitchell works his way back from a torn ACL suffered in December. The fresher legs Henry has later in the year, the more of a dangerous weapon he’ll be in the postseason when the Ravens will want to ensure they control the pace and close out games.

Brent Urban — The Ravens didn’t draft a single player at the position after bringing back last year’s entire depth chart which bodes well for the 10-year veteran coming off one of the best seasons of his career in which he recorded a new single-season high three sacks. While he still will likely be one of the obvious handshake deal releases and bring right back veteran options at cutdown time, this increases the likelihood that his playing time or final roster security won’t be negatively impacted barring the emergence of an undrafted rookie free agent signing.

DB Ar’Darius Washington — Harbaugh gave the fourth-year pro a ringing endorsement following Day 3 of the draft and the fact that the team didn’t draft a safety until the bottom of the seventh round increases his odds of not only making the team but carving out a role on defense. Given Kane is more of a box player than a traditional safety, Washington’s biggest threat at potentially replacing 2023 AFC interceptions leader Geno Stone who defected to division foe in free agency is likely either Wiggins who says he can play nickel and safety if needed, or undrafted rookie Beau Brade out of the University of Maryland who was among the teams first signings after Day 3 concluded.

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Losers

Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images

OT Daniel Faalele — The 2022 fourth-rounder will be in one of the fiercest competitions and top position battles to watch when training camp and preseason roll around as he and Rosengarten are the top two candidates to replace Moses as the next starting right tackle. While he will be given every opportunity to win the job, the odds of him beating out the highly drafted rookie who is the better scheme fit of the two of them will be tough but he still shouldn’t be counted out in the running.

CBs Jalyn Armour-Davis, Damarion Williams — The two 2022 fourth-rounders might very well be battling for one of the final spots on the depth chart come August after the Ravens added two highly touted prospects at the position. Wiggins can play inside and out so he is a threat to both of them while Tampa is an outside option almost exclusively which doesn’t bode well for Armour-Davis’ chances. Special teams will play a major in improving the odds of either player making the final roster, proving they can stay on the field after being hampered by injuries to begin their respective careers will be the biggest hurdle to clear.

QB/WR Malik Cunningham — The 2023 undrafted free agent who the Ravens seemed excited about adding as a developmental quarterback with the dynamic ability to contribute at wide receiver in the interim doesn’t appear to be in the team’s long-term plans anymore. Not only did Harbaugh double down on his declaration of veteran Josh Johnson as Jackson’s clear-cut primary backup, but the addition of Leary and Walker severely diminished his odds of being able to make the team at either spot he plays.

Even though Leary was a late-round pick, he is a prospect that Ravens quarterback coach Tee Martin really liked and pounded the table and who the team is excited to develop as a third quarterback. The addition of Walker means Cunningham would have to outshine fourth-year pro Tylan Wallace on special teams as a returner and on coverage units as well as at receiver to have a chance of making the team neither of which seems likely.

OLB Malik Hamm — The 2023 undrafted free agent made the Ravens’ initial 53-man roster after standing out in training camp and the preseason but spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve although he could’ve been activated when healthy. The addition of Isaac, the re-signing of Van Noy and the expected return to form of Ojabo might make it hard for the Ravens to carry six outside linebackers on their final roster unless Cunningham can once again prove that he is too good to cut.