Last season, the Baltimore Ravens revamped their passing game under new offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Things had grown a bit stale under Greg Roman in the years since Lamar Jackson’s breakout MVP season in 2019, so the Baltimore brought in Monken to open things up and get the ball downfield.
Needless to say, it worked. The additions of Zay Flowers, Odell Beckham Jr., Nelson Agholor and more helped Jackson to his best passing season in years, and to another MVP award. But the Ravens didn’t get the results they wanted out of their offense in the playoffs, and like other teams that fell short, have been making some significant changes this offseason.
One of those changes was bringing in Derrick Henry to lead the running back room after it dealt with so many injuries over the last few years, but the Ravens also had to address a need in their passing game. They waited until the fourth round to add a wide receiver, but general manager Eric DeCosta explained why he thinks North Carolina’s Devontez Walker was the right fit for what they needed.
“”He’s tall. He ran very fast — 4.3s. Jumped over 42 inches, I think. Just an explosive guy,” DeCosta said. “I think with us, one of the things that we’ve been missing a little bit is that big, linear, outside, field-stretcher type of guy.”
DeCosta noted that Jackson wanted the Ravens to add that type of receiver to the mix. But he also explained why a former Ravens wideout played into the decision.
“Having a guy like a Torrey Smith was for us, who can just run past people, catch the ball on vertical routes, draw pass interference penalties, force teams to play two-deep Cover 2-type coverages against us — I think it’s gonna really help us,” he said. “He’s a guy who can go get the ball.”
Walker finished the 2023 season with 15 explosive receptions, according to TruMedia, but that number came in a shortened campaign thanks to the NCAA’s eligibility rules keeping him out for a significant portion of the year. He had 17 such receptions on only 332 routes at Kent State in 2022, and his 32 such catches across the two seasons combined ranked inside the top 50 nationally out of the 332 receivers with at least 50 total receptions during that time.
Fourth-round wideouts typically aren’t considered — or counted on to be — instant-impact players, but if the Ravens carve out this narrow role for him to begin his career before expanding his responsibilities down the line, perhaps he can be an exception.