“I’d say, obviously, it’s pretty strong up top,” Hortiz said of the incoming quarterbacks. “Those four guys that are being listed in the mocks as going high, they’re all talented and good in their own right. If you break them down, Bryce (Young) is extremely accurate, cerebral, intelligent, winner. They’re all winners, actually, every one of them, which is what you love. And then, (Anthony) Richardson’s got just raw, physical talent, strong arm, athletic, big, physical, tough. Probably the least experienced of the four of them, but has a chance to really blossom and develop.
“Will (Levis) is, again, a physical, strong guy with an elite arm and has gone through two different offenses the past two years. So, he’s adjusted to players changing around him. His whole offensive line was revamped. And then C.J. (Stroud), he’s just matured and grown and gotten better and better. Played his best game his last game of his career, I thought. Really accurate. Has a great feel for the field and showed off his athleticism, certainly in that Georgia game.”
Unlike past years, with five picks in total, Baltimore isn’t currently equipped with the ammunition required to move up and take one of the aforementioned quarterbacks. A Jackson trade would change that fact, and create a need which the Ravens could instantly address via the draft.
A Jackson trade isn’t the only course the Ravens could take to add picks, either.
“Our goal would be to add picks if we can at some point,” DeCosta said. “In saying that, I think it’s important to note that we’ve had a lot of picks over the last four, five years. You get to a point where maybe having too many picks isn’t necessarily the right thing in any given year. You almost have to have a purge at some point. Because you have all these young players on the team, and they can’t all make the team if you just keep stacking these huge, massive draft classes.
“So, I wouldn’t say that was intentional this year, but for us, to say that our second-round pick was Roquan Smith, pretty happy with that. If we only have five picks this year, I’d like to get back to nine or 10 picks next year, for sure. But having a smaller amount of picks this year based on what we’ve done in ’18, ’19, ’20, ’21, ’22, that’s not necessarily the worst thing.”
For now, this is all just speculation. But Baltimore made clear Wednesday it is prepared for any scenario, even if their personnel leaders didn’t want to discuss Jackson directly.