The Ravens drafted a high ceiling developmental offensive tackle in the fifth round with Carson Vinson out of Alabama A&M.
Baltimore used pick No. 141, which was gained after a trade with the Tennessee Titans. The Ravens moved back five spots from the end of the fourth to the fifth round and moved up five spots from 183 to 178.
Vinson stands in at a massive 6-foot-7, 321 pounds. bosting ideal NFL size.
"He's massive. Baltimore loves to collect these big offensive tackles," NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah said after the Ravens' pick was announced.
Vinson has the tools the Ravens and Offensive Line Coach George Warhop can mold into a strong backup early in his career with the potential to become a down-the-road starter.
"I bring tenacity and I'm an athlete. Those are two things I really hang my hat on," Vinson said. "A lot of things the Ravens organization can help me with and things I need to work on are my technique. Coach Warhop is a great coach. So it's a lot of things like that where I feel like I'm in the perfect position to be the best player that I can."
Vinson was a five-year starter at left tackle and one of the top non-FBS prospects in this year's draft class. He is Alabama A&M's first draft pick since 2011 and first offensive player drafted in more than 30 years. He's also the first HBCU draftee since the seventh round of the 2023 draft.
Vinson battled two SEC teams (Vanderbilt and Auburn) and had a strong showing at the Senior Bowl, proving he's capable of hanging with tougher competition. He was the only HBCU player invited to the Senior Bowl.
In addition to his size, Vinson has shown his love of football through his rapid development after being lightly recruited out of high school in North Carolina. The big hometown schools wanted Vinson after he proved himself at Alabama A&M, but he remained loyal to the program that gave him his start.
"I wanted to go to [North] Carolina, and they came back calling around my junior [or] senior year, and I wasn't going to go because [they] didn't want me out of high school," Vinson said. "So, it was really just a chip on my shoulder that I took throughout college. I said, 'OK, I'm going to do it from the school that wanted me first.'"
Vinson came on a top-30 visit to Baltimore during the pre-draft process and his agent had a gut feeling that he would end up in Baltimore.
"It was an amazing time," Vinson said of his visit. "Especially coming from a small school, it's almost surreal. You think it's going to happen [get drafted] but you never really know. I saw the Baltimore number pop up and everything kind of slowed down a little bit. It's a blessing."
The Ravens have now drafted two offensive tackles with their first five selections, showing a commitment to getting younger and restocking their offensive tackle pipeline.
In the third round, Baltimore picked LSU offensive tackle Emery Jones Jr., who could be the Ravens' swing offensive tackle this season and will likely compete for the starting left guard job, essentially stepping in for the departed Patrick Mekari. Vinson is more of a longer-term developmental offensive tackle, making him an ideal follow-up selection.
