Steve Biscoitti loves the NFL Draft and has been the Ravens' majority owner since 2004.
After all those years in the draft room, the boss wanted to call one of the shots.
Bisciotti made his first pick as Ravens owner, selecting running back Adam Randall out of Clemson with the last of the Ravens' three picks of the fifth round (No. 174).
General Manager Eric DeCosta shed more insight on how the pick came to be during an appearance on "The Lounge" podcast several days after the draft.
It all started when they were at Bisciotti's house down in Florida, where they meet every year to discuss offseason strategy. At some point, DeCosta mentioned that former team president David Modell had made a pick in 1998 – the final "Mr. Irrelevant" pick in the draft. Modell selected tight end Cam Quayle.
"Steve said, 'Man, I'd love to make a pick,'" DeCosta recalled. "I said, 'You can make a pick. We have lots of picks. You can make a pick.'"
They decided on the last of four originally-scheduled fifth-round picks and Bisciotti got to work. Every year, Bisciotti loves to dig into the prospects and find some of his favorites. This year, he had a special project.
He did his research, which included speaking to a close friend, Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney.
Bisciotti also added an assistant in DeCosta's 15-year-old son, Jackson, with whom he hit it off in the draft room a year ago. Bisciotti and Jackson both "have an affinity for testers at the Combine, the underrated guys," DeCosta said.
The Ravens' GM figured Bisciotti would take a playmaker. "It was never going to be a lineman," he said with a laugh.
Bisciotti worked in secret, nervous that DeCosta might swipe his guy with the pick right before. But after DeCosta picked Alabama tight end Josh Cuevas at No. 173, Bisciotti got his guy.
Randall is a high-upside prospect as a converted wide receiver who stands in at an imposing 6-foot-3, 232 pounds, earning him the nickname "Baby Julio" after former Falcons star receiver Julio Jones. He has elite athleticism with a 4.5-second 40-yard dash at his size.
In his first year as a starter last season, Randall posted 814 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns and caught 36 passes for 254 yards and another three scores. He also offers additional positional value as a kickoff returner who averaged 23.2 yards on 13 attempts.
DeCosta called Randall a "jackknife" player who could fill multiple roles on the team.
"I think Adam Randall is one of the more unique players in this draft," Swinney stated following the Ravens' pick. "I told a couple of GMs before the draft that I think he's a steal. He's like getting three players with one pick because I think he's just scraping the surface of what he can do as a pro football player."
The Ravens also loved Randall's character. Swinney told Bisciotti that Randall was the highest character player he ever had in the program. He suffered a torn ACL during spring practice his first year at Clemson but returned to the field less than six months later. Randall also played through broken bones in his hands in 2022 and 2023.
Randall could have transferred out of Clemson when he wasn't getting many opportunities as a receiver, but he stayed, switched positions, and thrived. His teammates voted him a team captain. Randall is a two-time All-ACC Honor Roll recipient and graduated with a degree in management. He used his NIL funds to build a barbershop and salon in his hometown of Myrtle Beach, S.C. with his father.
Now, Randall will join a backfield with Derrick Henry, veteran Justice Hill, and Rasheen Ali, and he can't wait to play with Lamar Jackson.
"We're going to do some damage with all three of us in the backfield," Randall said of playing with Henry and Jackson. "I think my receiving ability out of the backfield makes me a matchup nightmare."
Now Randall's future will forever be tied to Bisciotti, the man that picked him to come to Baltimore.
"I think it accomplished a few things," DeCosta said. "One, it gave Steve the experience of putting your name on a player and making it public. It's your guy, your pick. It's hard to make a decision like that. I think he struggled with it a little bit. He would probably tell you that.
"The second part of it is there's no better feeling when you get to that point and you know you're going to make that pick and you call the player. ... It was a beautiful thing. It was cool. It was fun."
