Ravens Hope to Address Underrated Need in Draft

The Baltimore Ravens were content letting former two-time Pro Bowl punt returner Devin Duvernay walk in free agency last offseason. They believed they had addressed the vital role on special teams that can directly impact field position on offense covered by signing another former All Pro in Deonte Harty.

Unfortunately, injuries prevented the six-year veteran from staying on the field and only limited him to five games. He recorded just 85 punt return yards on eight opportunities and 98 kickoff return yards on four chances. Between his appearances and the other contingencies plans the Ravens rolled out, they had a revolving door at punt returner which led to a lack of juice and consistent decision-making when it came to fielding the ball.

Since the onset of the offseason, finding someone to properly fill that role has emerged as one of the Ravens' underrated needs and one that remains heading into the 2025 NFL Draft. During a pre-draft press conference on Tuesday, both general manager Eric DeCosta and head coach John Harbaugh expressed their desire to select a prospect throughout the three-day event who can contribute in that role and shared that they have a list of potential options.

"It'd be nice. I think we've done a good job of sizing that up, and I think, again, [special teams coordinator] Chris Horton does an awesome job," DeCosta said. "Our scouts evaluate, but it's based on the area that they scout or the position that they scout. Chris really does a great job of taking all the returners and ranking the returners from first to worst, and so that's a big part of it."

Three possible candidates who are most certainly on Horton's list near the top include Iowa State's Jaylin Noel, Virginia Tech's Jaylin Lane and Eastern Washington's Efton Chism III. During his four years with the Cyclones, Noel recorded 466 punt return yards including career-highs in yards (199) and yards per return (15.3) as a senior. Lane led two different conferences in punt returns and punt return yards at least once with 2024 being the most recent as he finished first in the ACC with 245 yards. Chism III was an all-purpose weapon at the FCS level, racking up 908 yards during his college career.