National Football League

Ravens GM doesn't rule out drafting QB in first round amid Lamar Jackson uncertainty

Updated Apr. 5, 2023 6:31 p.m. ET

The Baltimore Ravens didn't want to talk about Lamar Jackson at their pre-draft press conference on Wednesday, but they might have tipped their hand on their future plans at quarterback.

Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta didn't rule out taking a quarterback with their first-round pick in the NFL draft, which is currently at No. 22 overall.

"It depends on the board, it really does," DeCosta told reporters on Wednesday. "I mean, I'd have to say yes because we have quarterbacks in our top 31. So just based on that alone, simple math, I would have to say yes."

DeCosta even seemed to imply just how many quarterback prospects he has within his top 31 prospect list.

"I would say there's probably more than four guys that can be significant quarterbacks in this league in this draft class," DeCosta said.

That seemed to be the consensus for many draft experts for quite some time, with C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, Anthony Richardson and Will Levis constantly being viewed as first-round picks. But the possible roadblock for the Ravens is that most mock drafts, including one done by FOX Sports' Jason McIntyre last week, have all four being selected in the top 10.

However, Tennessee's Hendon Hooker has climbed his way into the backend of the first round of many mock drafts recently. In fact, McIntyre had the Ravens selecting Hooker with the No. 22 overall pick, and perhaps he is one of the four quarterback prospects DeCosta alluded to.

Of course, the Ravens' potential interest in drafting a quarterback with their first-round pick likely wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the Jackson situation. They placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson in March as the quarterback demanded a trade from the team.

While Jackson's situation will likely loom over the Ravens until it's resolved, Baltimore didn't want to comment about it at all on Wednesday. After the third question about Jackson at the press conference was asked, a person from the Ravens' media relations department interrupted to keep the line of questions about the draft.

"I understand the need to ask those kinds of questions," DeCosta said. "I think just out of respect for the process, this is a draft luncheon and we're going to try to keep as much of this discussion as we can to the draft, to the coming weeks, building the best football team we can build.

"So, I understand those questions. I think we've spoken about this situation probably five different times this spring in various different press conferences and such. So, we're going to try to just kind of defer to those questions and move forward to the draft."

Even though the Ravens might be in the market for a quarterback for the first time since 2018, when they drafted Jackson, DeCosta said that they haven't really changed their approach in scouting quarterbacks this year.

"We go into every draft trying to take any kind of bias out, any kind of need-based situation out of the draft equation," DeCosta said. "We really do try to build a board that's really best player available."

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