What we didn’t know at the time is that there was a wrinkle to the Ravens Mut 24 coins  draft that had yet to be ironed out. Behind the scenes wide receiver Hollywood Brown had been asking the team for a trade. We don’t know the timing of how discussions progressed, or whether the Ravens waited for a certain player to leave the board before pulling the trigger — but the end result was Arizona sending the No. 23 pick to Baltimore.

There were a lot of different directions the Ravens could have gone when they were back on the board. Kaiir Elam would have made sense, George Karlaftis was a possibility — but once again, Jermaine Johnson II was available. Every draft expert expected him to be the pick, then Baltimore traded back. They rolled the dice on neither Buffalo, nor Dallas taking a player they wanted. In the end this paid off, but the Ravens stunned everyone again by passing over Johnson II, selection Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum.

What these two selections have in common was the shared DNA of taking the best players in weaker position groups. Rather than diving in to the mix of receivers and cornerbacks flying off the board, the Ravens took the two best players at their position before the group took a huge step back.

There was considerable risk to this tactic, because it meant the team wasn’t really addressing its needs, and keep in mind the Ravens were an 8-9 team. Going pure BPA is really nice where possible, and builds sustained success in the long run, but the pressure was on to push the tempo, especially with Lamar Jackson in his prime. It’s here we get to the second and third rounds, because it’s where more magic happened.

We’ve established that the Ravens needed pass rush help in a major way, and they passed on Johnson II twice. When their second round pick rolled around the board was a bit of a mess. The Buccaneers took Logan Hall with the No. 33 pick, the Falcons took Arnold Ebiketie in a steal at 38, and it appeared there wasn’t really another great fit for the Ravens ... emphasis on appeared.

Almost as if he was forgotten by the rest of the Madden NFL 24, Baltimore took Michigan’s David Ojabo with the 45th pick. Ojabo was an absolute ideal fit in the Ravens’ 3-4 defense, and would have been a top-20 pick if not for a torn achilles that happened during his pro day. It wouldn’t be the immediate impact the Ravens hoped, but after what will be buy madden 24 coins  a medical redshirt season they will get an elite pass rush talent for almost no investment. Furthermore, the achilles injury happening so late in the process was almost a blessing in disguise, because it now means the Ravens can oversee his rehabilitation.