According to ESPN’s draft analytics, Georgia safety Malaki Starks is the player most likely to be chosen 27th in next week's draft, followed by Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon and Boston College edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku.

However, the Ravens could go a different direction with their first-round pick. It largely depends on what happens in front of them.

"I never want to pigeonhole myself into doing this or that because when I do that, I usually end up being disappointed," General Manager Eric DeCosta said at the team's pre-draft press conference. "You create a false expectation in your mind, and you start to think about needs and other things.

"I like to go into that draft like a wide-open highway with no cars on the road, and I could drive as fast as I want straight down the road unencumbered and not worry about [anything] but just driving, turn music up and just drafting and picking the best players."

In the 2022 draft, the Ravens didn’t expect Kyle Hamilton to be available with the 14th pick. But when Hamilton fell to them, Baltimore pounced, and he quickly became an All-Pro safety.

Here are three potential picks at No. 27 who would be more surprising than Starks, Harmon or Ezeiruaku, but who could work out well for Baltimore:

OG Grey Zabel, North Dakota State

Most pundits expect the Ravens to choose a defensive player in Round 1, but a chance to land Zabel might sway Baltimore's thinking.

Zabel could immediately compete with Andrew Vorhees for a starting spot at left guard, the position he played in college. At 312 pounds, he's a powerful blocker the Ravens could sandwich between left tackle Ronnie Stanley and center Tyler Linderbaum.

"He's always under control," NFL Network's Jeremiah said at the Combine. "He's never on the ground. He's got strong hands. He's really aware in terms of seeing things and picking things up. He's just a guy who has played a lot of football who is polished and answered some of the smaller school questions at the Senior Bowl even though North Dakota State has been a school that's pumped out a lot of linemen. I'm a huge fan of his."

CB Maxwell Hairston, Kentucky

Even though Nate Wiggins was their first-round pick last year, the Ravens could take a corner for the second straight year. That's how highly they covet corners.
"That's just an incredibly important position, so that's always going to be a need for us," DeCosta said. "That doesn't mean we're going to take a guy in the first round, but I feel pretty sure that we'll take at least one corner in the draft."

Hairston had five interceptions in 2023, but just one in 2024, largely because opposing quarterbacks were reluctant to test him. He had the fastest 40-yard dash at the Combine this year (4.28 seconds), so there are no questions about Hairston's speed.

In his most recent mock draft, Kiper had Hairston going 30th to the Buffalo Bills, while Dane Brugler of The Athletic had Hairston going 28th to the Detroit Lions.

The Ravens might beat both of those teams to the punch.

EDGE Mykel Williams, Georgia

ESPN.com's Ben Solak wrote that Williams, "would be the best pick for the Ravens, should he fall all the way down to No. 27."

There's plenty to like about Williams, including his size (6-foot-5, 267 pounds) and toughness. ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said on "The Lounge" podcast that Williams deserves credit for playing through an ankle injury in 2024. Williams was forced to miss two games but still produced a career-high five stats.

"I would have loved to see him go through the year healthy. He wasn't with the ankle," Kiper said. "Do you see the burst? Do you see the explosiveness? To me, he's got to develop some more pass rush moves. He's great against the run. He's great at the point [of attack]. He can seal the edge. He can do all those things. He hustles, he plays hard, he looks the part from that size standpoint out there on that football field."

Williams could be a top 20 pick, but if he gets into the 20's, he's a player who bears watching.