The Baltimore Ravens were once again knocked out of the playoffs before reaching the Super Bowl, something that has eluded two-time MVP Lamar Jackson. They addressed their secondary, offensive line, and edge rush before turning to fantasy football-eligible weapons. You can probably already see where this will go, as they do not have much value in that department. But, let’s dive into the three guys they took in the draft who have eligibility in fantasy football.
FULL 2024 BALTIMORE RAVENS DRAFT RESULTS
| Rd | Pick | Player | Pos. | College |
| 1 | 30 | Nate Wiggins | DB | Clemson |
| 2 | 62 | Roger Rosengarten | OT | Washington |
| 3 | 93 | Adisa Isaac | EDGE | Penn St |
| 4 | 113 | Devontez Walker | WR | UNC |
| 4 | 130 | T.J. Tampa | CB | Iowa St. |
| 5 | 165 | Rasheen Ali | RB | Marshall |
| 6 | 218 | Devin Leary | QB | Kentucky |
| 7 | 228 | Nick Samac | C | Michigan St |
| 7 | 250 | Sanoussi Kane | S | Purdue |
Round 4, Pick 113 Overall: Devontez Walker, Wide Receiver, UNC (6’2” 193 lbs)
Talent:
Tez Walker is a fast wide receiver, who is good enough at getting separation at the line of scrimmage to make enough space between him and the defender to allow for passes to have a chance. Unfortunately, that’s all that he really does. When he’s tasked with doing anything but a 9 route, he just sort of floats all around the field. That having been said, he is a very good 50/50 guy, with his good ball-tracking skills and late hands. Unfortunately, he is incredibly one dimension, and “good at catching the ball defended because he can’t get open” isn’t a dimension that works out too well (see N’Keal Harry, Alec Pierce, and other guys I used to fall in love with). He’s going to be a day-three pick, but he needs a lot of refinement to be anything but a DFS darling in his rookie year.
NFL Comparison: Bad Alec Pierce
2024 Opportunity:
The Baltimore Ravens are an interesting case because their wide receiver room isn’t all that great. They have Zay Flowers, and (maybe) Rashod Bateman, and then… Devontez Walker? However, the lack of talent in the wide receiver room is completely negated by the talent emanating from the tight end room. The Ravens have fantasy football stud Mark Andrews, and a fantasy football new kid on the block in Isaiah Likely, who averaged 3.5 catches for 54 yards and scored five touchdowns in six games after Mark Andrews’ season-ending injury. The Ravens also pass the ball in the bottom half of the league in terms of rate and they added a running back pass-catching element (in Rasheen Ali) that they’ve never had before. I’m not so sure how much opportunity Tez Walker will have in his rookie year.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
I am not interested in who will likely be Lamar Jackson’s fifth-most targeted player.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 5, Pick 165 Overall: Rasheen Ali, Running Back, Marshall (5’11” 206 lbs)
Talent:
Rasheen Ali is a little jitterbug back, who is a lot of fun if you can get him the ball in space. But, he lacks the decisiveness in a crowded and collapsing point of attack to get consistent down-to-down as a three-down runner. He struggles to do much of anything in a crowd, but if you get him into space, then he shines. He would be best suited in the NFL as a third-down scat back, and he could be one of the more fun and elusive ones. He needs some coaching to turn his athleticism into running back production, but he is a great pass catcher who lines up all over the place, and who thrives in space.
2024 Opportunity:
This is a really weird draft pick for the Ravens. They haven’t used a satellite back in their offense at all since Lamar Jackson became the quarterback. In fact, they don’t pass to the running back at all, with 2021’s Devonta Freeman (I bet you forgot he was on the Ravens) leading the way in targets per game with 2.6. 2022-2023 Kenyan Drake had 2 targets per game, but literally every other running back of the Lamar Jackson QB Experience had fewer than two targets per game. Now, a lot of this is because the Ravens employed a ton of no-nonsense downhill running backs like Mark Ingram, J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards, and now… Derrick Henry.
Ali doesn’t really fit what the Ravens have done on offense, and it makes me wonder why they took him. It could be an attempt to branch out, which would indicate that he could get a decent amount of volume. But, rushing quarterbacks struggle to utilize pass catching backs, so for that reason, I am struggling to find an in-road for Ali finding early career success outside of the Ravens reforming their offense. No offense to Ali, but a fifth-round running back isn’t exactly the type of player you break your offense to fit.
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
He will have some weeks where the Ravens are desperately chasing points, and he could end up with 5 catches for 50 yards. Good luck guessing at those weeks. I’m not interested unless we see some early-season dedication to using him, or a Derrick Henry injury.
TALENT:
2024 OPPORTUNITY:
2024 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 6, Pick 218 Overall: Devin Leary, Quarterback, Kentucky (6’1” 215 lbs)
Talent:
There is literally nothing of note about Devin Leary. I kept wanting to call him Denis Leary, to be honest. He is a default quarterback in Madden, the guy they give you to start your MUT team. He is small and just okay as a passer, he is unathletic, and he can’t really throw deep. He’s a third QB. He won’t matter in the NFL, however, at least not without a massive change in skill set.
Giving him the Nate Polvogt Comp of Unathletic Gardner Minshew
2024 Opportunity:
He’s the backup to Lamar Jackson, taken in the sixth round, what do you think?
2024 Fantasy Football Outlook:
Absolutely not, even if there’s a fire (a fire being code for Lamar Jackson not playing in 2024).
