The Ravens added another young cornerback to their arsenal, selecting Bilhal Kone out of Western Michigan in the sixth round with pick No. 178.
Kone has good size at 6-foot-1, 190 pounds and was a two-year starting outside cornerback for the Broncos. He led the team in passes defensed each of the past two seasons and was one of only four FBS cornerbacks with at least 70 tackles in 2024.
"You're going to get a dawg with a chip on his shoulder," Kone said. "You're going to get a guy that's been through the longest journey. You're going to get a guy who has fought through every type of adversity you can probably think of."
Beyond the player, the Ravens are getting a highly motivated and mature person. His challenging upbringing started in the Ivory Coast for six years before moving back to Minnesota. His first language was French.
Tragically, Kone's younger brother, Hamza, died when he was set to enter high school. Due to financial reasons, Kone moved in with the family of current NBA players Tre (Chicago Bulls) and Tyus Jones (Phoenix Suns) during high school.
The death of his brother has pushed Kone personally and in his football career. And as fate would have it, he was drafted on the same date, April 26th, of Hamza's birthday. Kone's older brother, Mohamed, plays professional basketball in Australia and the two talked this morning about celebrating their late brother's birthday.
"I was thinking about that all morning, honestly. That was more on my mind than a lot of things," Kone said. "I'm really grateful and I know he's watching above guiding all of us. I'm appreciative of him."
Originally a wide receiver, Kone converted to cornerback during the junior year of high school and flourished with 11 interceptions over his final two years. Still, he was a no-star recruit and went the junior college route, starting with two years at Iowa Central Community College. He transferred to Indiana State for one season, then made the jump to FBS and Western Michigan the following season.
The Ravens have their starting cornerbacks in Marlon Humphrey, Nate Wiggins, and free-agent addition Chidobe Awuzie. Kone adds depth alongside Jalyn Armour-Davis, T.J. Tampa, and others.
Kone also has a relationship with Ravens first-round pick Malaki Starks. They have been training with each other for the past couple months in Tampa, Fla.
"We've been competing against each other, making each other better, joking around," Kone said. "We got close throughout there. Being able to come here with him and get right back to it is really great."
