Ravens GM Reveals Key to Draft Strategy

Few, if any, teams in the 2025 NFL Draft found as much surprising value as the Baltimore Ravens. That was headlined by their first-round pick, Georgia safety Malaki Starks.

Viewed as the top safety in the class and a top-15 prospect by many, Starks fits the billing of Super Bowl contenders who seem to always find good players at a discount. The Ravens also earned praise for Round 2 edge rusher Mike Green (who had major off-field concerns sinking his stock), Round 3 tackle Emery Jones Jr., and a surplus of Day 3 selections.

The league’s parity suggests that the best teams should have the least draft capital. However, through trades and compensation picks, Baltimore made 11 selections in seven rounds.

That wasn’t an accident.

In an interview with “The Lounge,” a team-backed podcast, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta revealed the key to his elite draft strategy.

"Teams simply don't do any better drafting than anyone else," DeCosta said. "They all do about the same. ... [Some believe the] draft is inherently sort of a luck-driven process. I don't [fully] believe that. But there is an element of luck involved. So if you accept that premise, then you're trading up for a player that you think is better than anybody else. Most of the time, [the other teams are] not gonna draft that player. That player is probably gonna fall to you. [And] there is no guarantee that player is gonna be better. ...

“All things being equal, the fact that no one really knows ... the only rational approach is to get more at-bats, is to pick more."

Baltimore’s strategy is simple: allow other teams to make mistakes. The Ravens largely drafted the best players available. Other teams reaching for specific prospects out of necessity can push consensus prospects down, and in the act of trading up, plenty of picks are available for the taking.

Trading down is universally known as a good-value maneuver, partly because of unsteady hit rates. Teams don’t hit often enough to warrant giving up multiple dart throws for one prospect.

"What we've seen over the last five years, everyone seems to be drafting ... the same players," he said. "That's kind of what the draft has become. ... [So] for me, the idea of having more picks means I have a chance of getting more [value]."

Baltimore traded back twice in the 2025 NFL Draft. In trading 10 spots down with the New York Jets, they swapped 2026 Day 3 picks, with a fifth heading to the Ravens and a sixth to the Jets. Given the contrasting expectations for those teams, Baltimore could move up nearly two rounds in 2026 for 10 in 2025. The Ravens’ second deal was less valuable, moving back five spots to move up five spots 1.5 rounds later.

Ultimately, no team made more picks than DeCosta in the 2025 NFL Draft. That gives Baltimore access to cheap talent and lots of it, where quality scouting and some good luck can help keep them competitive in a salary cap league.