OTL: Mock Draft Friday – Time to Trade Back?

Welcome back, Ravens Flock. We bring back Mock Draft Friday today, and we have a fun challenge with today’s.

Another coach has been added to the staff:

The Ravens are close to a deal to hire University of Michigan DL Coach Lou Esposito, per sources. He’ll coach the Ravens DL.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) February 5, 2026

This continues a trend that Minter is following, of just collecting a bunch of good young minds from the college ranks. I originally thought this was Minter trying to dive back into his own connections instead of doing something new, but they never overlapped at Michigan. Michigan has had a solid run of Defensive lineman, so hopefully Esposito can work with Weaver and whip this D-Line into shape (because lord knows they need it).

We now welcome back Mock Draft Friday after taking a break to give Jesse Minter our full attention last week. For this Mock Draft, we once again aim to select the best player available while prioritizing the trenches; however, we are taking on a new challenge today. We can’t select any players in the first five rounds that we have already selected in previous mocks. This creates a new challenge, but it also offers an interesting perspective. Granted, this may not be a very realistic Mock Draft because of the rule. Today was more of a personal challenge to myself and a way to introduce you, the reader, to some fresh faces:

The more we do these Mock Drafts, the more appealing a trade down becomes. I have really started studying this class, and one thing stands out to me: it really lacks star power. The names seen in some of these Mocks by the national media are not the greatest, and the players I am seeing selected would just really turn me off at 14. Unless someone like Reuben Bain falls, trading down could be the best option for EDC and the new staff.

So that’s what we did. We picked up a really good haul from Chicago, and still get a player I am more comfortable taking in the 20s. Cashius Howell is extremely explosive and fast. He has the athleticism and twitch that you love to see. The only issue is that he’s smaller at 6’2 and 248, and while having both Howell and Mike Green on the field will provide good pass rush upside, the run-stopping ability is a concern. This would be a slam dunk if they could get a bigger-bodied Edge in free agency that can handle the dirty work of stopping the run or can get a butt kicker on the inside.

For now, though, Howell adds the pure pass-rush ability that is missing from the room right now.

Have you ever seen a player record 3 sacks in a row? Well that’s what Texas A&M EDGE Cashius Howell (6’2 248) did this year.

– Good production
– 28.8% true pass set win rate
– Diverse pass rush skill set
– Amazing ghost move
– Elite bend
– Lightning quick first step
-… pic.twitter.com/KtYOpWxlLC

— mrlutz (@mr1lutz) January 27, 2026

Now this is when this challenge did screw me over. If this were a real-life scenario, I would have taken one of our second-round interior players from our last two mock drafts. However, I couldn’t choose those guys, so I went for the athletic upside on the offensive line:

Georgia OT Monroe Freeling in 2025:

*Among 2026 Offensive Lineman*

• 6 hurries allowed (3rd fewest)
• 9 total pressures allowed (2nd fewest)
• 2 penalties (2nd fewest)
• 98.6 PFF EFF (2nd)
• 3 Sacks Allowed (t-14th)pic.twitter.com/0WuSoq32fI

— SCOUTD (@scoutdnfl) February 2, 2026

If this were the actual pick, Freeling would be the starting left guard with the ability to move around to tackle if Ronnie Stanley gets hurt or the new staff wants to move on from him in the next couple of years as he ages. Freeling is an insane athlete, is a good road grader and pass blocker. He reminds me of Roger Rosengarten coming out; all you have to do is get him stronger and this guy could be a stud.

The biggest issue is that I wasn’t able to land a true impact player on the Interior of defensive line. Now Mads’ cryptic tweets might point toward a potential return for him, but we can’t count on that. They didn’t add last year at this position, and it killed them. With that said, I do think Anthony Weaver and this new staff would be able to get more out of this core of players than the old staff did, but personnel remains an issue.

With that said, that has nothing to do with this pick, as Chris Johnson is one I’m excited about. He had an awesome production at a small school and showed up with a good week at the Senior Bowl. Eli Stowers is a fun story. Originally a quarterback, he moved to tight end and ended up winning the award for the best TE in the nation. He is a sick athlete, and he would be cool to see in a Ben Johnson-esque offense. I then used a fifth-round pick to trade up to get an interior butt-kicker in Keenan. Halton is the polar opposite, as he brings the pass rush juice, and these two create a yin and yang. Reed-Adams is another bigger run-blocking guy for the team to develop. Barton brings the coverage upside at linebacker, while McGowan brings the juice at running back. Lance is going to add value as a bigger body 50/50 guy in the end zone, and Harvey is a guy the Ravens have already had conversations with early in the process.

Even though my rules made it hard to get a guy who could make a true impact on the interior of the D-line, this was a fun but challenging mock draft that I still feel turned out well.

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