Cleveland Browns: How the rest of the AFC North fared in 2022 NFL Draft

Baltimore Ravens put on a draft clinic

Death, taxes, and the Baltimore Ravens having fantastic drafts. It should be to the surprise of absolutely nobody that the Ravens were yet again making the most of the NFL Draft and stockpiling talent for years to come.

Baltimore had two first-round picks after doing some wheeling and dealing, Ric Flair style. Both of those picks were home runs, in my opinion, something that I despise for them, but also respect.

With the 14th overall pick, Baltimore drafted Notre Dame safety, Kyle Hamilton, who many believed to be the best safety in the entire draft. How on earth did the best safety in the draft fall all the way to No. 14? Well, there was a slew of defensive linemen and secondary players, along with a run of wide receivers that helped Hamilton land right in the Ravens draft.

The 6-foot-4 safety is going to help this secondary in a huge way and the Ravens will need all the productivity they can get being that they have to face Deshaun Watson and Joe Burrow twice a year and that’s not even including the rest of the loaded AFC.

Later in Round 1, the Ravens took arguably the best center in the draft, Tyler Linderbaum, out of Iowa at pick No. 25. This came after trading away wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to the Arizona Cardinals for the 23rd overall pick, which they then flipped for the 25th overall pick along with later draft picks as reinforcements. Linderbaum is likely going to be a Day 1 starter. Great.

As if the first round wasn’t all roses for the Ravens, they were able to draft and stash EDGE rusher David Ojabo, who is recovering from an Achilles tear, or else he likely would have gone within the first 15 picks of the first round. Travis Jones, the defensive tackle out of Connecticut who was mocked to the Browns at 44, fell right into the Ravens lap at 76, because of course he did. In the fourth round, the Ravens drafted offensive tackle Daniel Faalele out of Minnesota and he too is projected to be a Day 1 starter.

Among other selections later in the draft, Baltimore got a punter in Jordan Stout out of Penn State and a pair of tight ends, Charlie Kolar (Iowa State) and Isaiah Likely (Coastal Carolina). Overall, the Ravens had 11 draft picks and surely knocked another draft out of the park. I don’t have to like it, but I certainly respect what general manager Eric DeCosta was able to accomplish this past weekend.