General Manager Eric DeCosta had a strong draft, selecting 11 players overall and eight on Day 3, but he made one move that raised some questions.
DeCosta sent the 136th and 183rd overall picks to the Tennessee Titans for the 141st and 178th overall picks. Essentially, DeCosta traded back five spots at the end of Round 4 to move up five spots at the start of Round 6.
"It was kind of an analytics thing for us," DeCosta said. "I agree it kind of looked weird, but it also had to do with our draft board and where we thought we had to take guys. Just a combination of picks, potentially tied to the kicker, just for us to gain some additional flexibility in the sixth round and maneuver a little bit that way.
"There really wasn't anybody that we really coveted at that specific point when we picked so we just liked the move in the sixth round for us to kind of get some things accomplished."
The Ravens used that earlier sixth round selection it got in the trade to pick Western Michigan cornerback Bilhal Kone, but Baltimore took Arizona kicker Tyler Loop next. The Ravens picked Loop four picks after the New England Patriots made Miami's Andres Borregales the first kicker drafted, which could have set off a run.
DeCosta also felt that the trade gave him an opportunity to add more draft capital next year. He followed through with that by trading pick No. 176 and a 2026 sixth-rounder for pick No. 186 and a 2026 fifth-rounder with the New York Jets.
"We felt like there might have been an opportunity for us to actually potentially use some of those sixth round picks to acquire some picks next year, which we sort of did," DeCosta said.
"It was really an analytics thing, strategy that we used based on the board, the type of players that thought were there. Not to get too geeky, but we have this list that Derrick Yam does that gives us percentages of when guys are going to be there in each round at each pick. So for us based on that and the players we wanted, we thought it made some sense."
