From inside Combine interviews and the draft room, Ravens Wired dropped Monday night, offering a behind-the-scenes look into Baltimore's 2025 NFL Draft.
Readers should watch the entire episode, but here's what we learned:
Two scouts stuck their neck out for Malaki Starks.
With the Ravens' pick nearing, General Manager Eric DeCosta summoned two of the team's rising scouts – Director of College Scouting Andrew Raphael and Assistant Director of College Scouting Joey Cleary.
DeCosta asked them who they would take between two specific players – Malaki Starks or an unnamed player – and what separates them. Both scouts replied without hesitation that they preferred Starks.
"The intangibles, the makeup, Starks' playmaking ability," Raphael said. "It's not close as far as what you're getting as far as makeup. It's not even close."
It doesn't work like this in every draft room around the league. From Ozzie Newsome to DeCosta, the Ravens' general managers have valued input from scouts and coaches at all levels. This was a prime example.
Keen draft viewers may have noticed a large stuffed giraffe in the Ravens' draft room, which symbolizes DeCosta's challenge to his scouts to "stick their neck out" and advocate for players they like. That's exactly what Raphael and Cleary did in that moment.
Who was the other player the Ravens were considering?
This is more a mystery than something we learned. Who was the other player DeCosta asked Raphael and Cleary to choose between?
The players that went after Starks in the first round were defensive tackle Tyleik Williams to the Lions, offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. to the Commanders, cornerback Maxwell Hairston to the Bills, linebacker Jihaad Campbell to the Eagles, and offensive tackle Josh Simmons to the Chiefs.
When DeCosta joined "The Lounge" podcast in the week following the draft, he said there were other players the Ravens were considering but that Starks was the "cleanest" player, as Raphael voiced.
"You have all these players, they're all graded closely together, and you're going to take the premium position guys and probably move them up a little bit because they play a premium position. Except that you're also going to weigh, how clean is the player?" DeCosta said.
"You get a guy that is super smart, he's been productive, he's extremely durable, he's been a team captain, incredible interview and all that stuff versus the other guys in the bucket that maybe aren't as productive or maybe have some injuries or maybe have some injuries, or maybe don't test that well. With Malaki, you're truly looking at the best player at his position and probably, when it all comes down to it, maybe, arguably the cleanest player at his position. Literally no questions whatsoever."
Unprompted, DeCosta brought up Simmons.
"There were some other really good players that were there when we picked. For instance, Josh Simmons, Ohio State, tremendously talented," DeCosta said. "Probably the best feet in the draft coming off a patella injury, so that just, in some ways, slightly muddies the water. That's a great player, Josh Simmons. They got a great player. The Chiefs got a great player with a lot of upside. Probably going to be a Pro Bowl player at some point, but he suffered a serious knee injury. Everything matters when you're evaluating these guys and you're really trying to separate. For us, Malaki was like, 'What can't this guy do?' … If there were 20 boxes, he would check off all 20 boxes."
Cordell Woodland of 105.7 The Fan believes the Ravens might have been between Starks and South Carolina Nick Emmanwori, who ended up going No. 35 to the Seattle Seahawks. We may never know, but it's fun to debate.
DeCosta resisted trade-back offers to take Starks.
It was clear that DeCosta's phone was ringing in the first round.
DeCosta loves acquiring more picks via trading back, and he stated he was "open to moving back" again this year. He spoke with Philadelphia Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman and seemingly others. DeCosta said it was "just a roll of the dice."
Ultimately, DeCosta decided it wasn't worth the risk of potentially losing Starks and other players they were targeting.
"If we did trade, we'd be looking at a situation in my opinion where we might be looking at Starks going here to Philly. I'm just guessing, but Starks going to Philly," DeCosta said.
The Eagles traded safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson this offseason, so they had a need. They also have shown an affinity for drafting Georgia defensive players.
Ultimately, DeCosta told a team calling that he was going to stick and pick Starks. The Eagles ended up taking Campbell and followed that up with safety Andrew Mukuba in the second round.
"It was going to be dicey if we traded back and I was going to lose my mind because I had a feeling we were going to get swooped," DeCosta said. "I don't think we were going to get any of those guys."
"No, not with the amount of calls you were getting," Vice President of Player Personnel George Kokinis replied.
Other than the Eagles, DeCosta was also worried other teams might take Starks if he moved back. He told "The Lounge" he was nervous about the Washington Commanders or Buffalo Bills leaping him to take Starks, or they could have scooped him or other players the Ravens wanted if Baltimore moved back. The Commanders took Conerly and the Bills drafted Hairston.
Roseman, by the way, also wanted to flip third-round picks and move up to the Ravens' spot at No. 1 while Baltimore would've moved back to No. 96. DeCosta also passed on that offer and selected offensive tackle Emery Jones Jr. Roseman and the Eagles clearly lost the player they were targeting and ended up trading back from No. 96.
Starks left a lasting impression with Combine interview.
In DeCosta's opening statement to the media after drafting Starks, he mentioned he had "one of the most impressive interviews we've ever had at the Combine." It's clear just how much of an impression that interview made watching Ravens Wired.
Starks opened up talking about the tragic death of his cousin and went in-depth into the film study with new Ravens Defensive Backs Coach Donald D'Alesio.
Even the next day, Raphael was still gushing about Starks' interview with Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken.
"Malaki was a beast yesterday," Raphael said. "He was awesome."
The Ravens had unique insight into Starks considering Monken worked with him for one year at Georgia (2022) when they won a national championship.
"Malaki is a stud," Monken said. "You can tell in recruiting him at Georgia, you can tell he's wide awake, great family, stud. It was like, this guy's different. Whatever skillset he's got, he's going to maximize it. What you see is what you get. Great dude, works hard, athletic as hell."
Mike Green was a pipe dream come true.
The Ravens went into Day 2 looking for a pass rusher. One of the best ones fell into their lap.
DeCosta compared the feeling of watching highly-ranked players fall down the board to being like players not talking to a pitcher during a no-hitter bid. You don't say anything for a while.
Eventually, the Ravens had to consider the possibility of taking Green, who led college football in sacks last year but dropped because of allegations of two sexual assault allegations made against him, which he has denied.
"If Mike Green is there," DeCosta said. "I mean, we've got to take him at 59 if he's there. He won't be there."
Ravens Pass Rush Coach Chuck Smith was clearly excited such a high-impact player, which ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. had ranked as the 18th-best prospect overall in this year's class.
Coaches got their guys on Day 3.
DeCosta made a great point that with Day 3 picks that have lower probabilities of hitting, he looks for players that coaches strongly advocated for. This is one of the benefits of continuity.
Coaches help in the selection of the players and are around long enough to coach the players they like.
"It's one thing to say, 'I like this guy.' It's another thing to say, 'I want this guy,'" DeCosta said. "As we get into the third day, I'm confident that if the coaches really want a guy, they are going to do everything they can as coaches to make sure this guy succeeds."
Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr, a former inside linebacker, vouched for Teddye Buchanon's smarts and hustle.
Offensive Line Coach George Warhop was thrilled to get fifth-round offensive tackle Carson Vinson, a developmental player from Alabama A&M with a ton of upside potential.
"He will not let you down and I will not let you down. I promise you that," Warhop told Harbaugh.
Running Backs Coach Willie Taggart spoke up about wide receiver/returner LaJohntay Wester, who he coached at Florida Atlantic, calling him a "great kid and great football player." New Inside Linebackers Coach Tyler Santucci spoke up in favor of defensive tackle Aeneus Peebles, who he coached at Duke in 2023. Peebles was also a Harbaugh favorite.
