With the 2026 NFL draft fast approaching, we're looking at every first-round pick selected during Eric DeCosta's tenure as the Baltimore Ravens GM
We're a little over 24 hours away from the start of the 2026 NFL draft, and the Ravens are a team to watch despite being relatively quiet on the trade front over the past few years. Since taking over for Ozzie Newsome in 2018, GM Eric DeCosta has made one significant draft-related trade, and his best selection undoubtedly is All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton. The Ravens have 11total picks: Nos. 14, 45, 80, 115, 154, 162, 173, 174, 211, 250, 253 in this weekend's draft, and ample opportunity to move up or down draft boards.
With the 2026 NFL draft fast approaching, we're looking at every first-round pick selected during Eric DeCosta's tenure as the Baltimore Ravens GM
2025: Malaki Starks
Starks, a 2025 first-round pick from Georgia, started 15 of the 17 games he appeared in this season, logging 1,060 defensive snaps (11th), 84 total tackles (49 solo) and four passes defensed, including two interceptions. Starks finished his rookie season with the third-most interceptions and the fourth-most total tackles on the Ravens' defense. Starks may not be Kyle Hamilton, but he was solid, and an improvement in pass coverage (64.9 PFF grade) could take him to a Pro Bowl level.
2024: CB Nate Wiggins
Wiggins was the Ravens' highest graded rookie and looks like a future star after recording 33 tackles while playing 15 games for the Ravens in the 2024 season and starting in each of the team's playoff games. Wiggins's 769 snaps were the seventh most on the Ravens defense that struggled against the pass early on but improved down the stretch.
2023: WR Zay Flowers
Baltimore made a trade and moved up to land Flowers out of Boston College. In his rookie season in 2023, Flowers recorded 77 catches for 858 yards and six touchdowns in 16 games. Flowers has earned back-to-back Pro Bowl nods.
2022: Kyle Hamilton, Safety, Notre Dame, Round 1, Pick 14
A Swiss Army Knife, the ultra-versatile Hamilton earned his second AP first team All-Pro honor. Everything Minter wants to do on defense starts with Hamilton.
Hamilton joins Hall of Famer Ed Reed (2003 & 2004) as the only Ravens defensive backs to earn multiple Pro Bowl nods within the first three years of a career.
2022: Tyler Linderbaum, Center, Iowa, Round 1, Pick 25
Linderbaum was the first Ravens offensive lineman to earn consecutive Pro Bowl honors since Orlando Brown Jr. (2019-20). He's now departed, joining the Raiders as the highest-paid center in NFL history.
2021: 1st (No. 27) – WR Rashod Bateman, Minnesota
After a career year in 2024, Bateman finished last season with 13 games played, 12 starts, 38 targets, 19 receptions, 224 yards receiving, and two touchdowns.
2021: 1st Round (No. 31) – EDGE Odafe Oweh, Penn State
Oweh was one of the most freakishly gifted athletes in the entire draft, at any position. At 6-foot-5, 251 pounds, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds. He had only played football for five years when Baltimore made the selection.
2020: Patrick Queen, Linebacker, LSU (28th overall)
Now a Steelers linebacker, Queen, the running mate for Roquan Smith, made his first Pro Bowl in 2023 after logging 125 tackles (78 solos) and matching a career high with six passes defended. He also added 3.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss, one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery for the best defense in the league. Queen is the only NFL defender to have produced at least 400 tackles (with 445), double-digit sacks (13.5), and double-digit takeaways (four interceptions and six fumble recoveries) since 2020.
2019: Round 1, No. 25 overall: Marquise Brown, WR, Oklahoma
The Ravens traded wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown to the Arizona Cardinals for the 23rd-overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Baltimore also sent the 100th-overall pick (third round) to the Cardinals as part of the trade. Brown was the Ravens' leading wide receiver the year prior (2021), hauling in 91 passes for 1,008 yards and six touchdowns. But in the prior year's draft, Baltimore also used a first-round pick on Rashod Bateman. Brown posted 195 catches for 2,361 yards and 21 touchdowns in his three seasons in Baltimore.
This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: 2026 NFL draft: Every Ravens 1st-round pick selected by Eric DeCosta
Category: Football
