2023 NFL Mock Draft: Baltimore Ravens take Bijan Robinson

Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas

OUTLOOK

When a top-five, blue-chip, All-American prospect falls into your lap at No. 22 overall, you take him regardless of his position. The Ravens’ woes happen to concern the offensive side of the ball, which makes Bijan Robinson an even better pick for a team so deprived of elite talent at its skill positions. This man is an absolute joy to watch! He’s got the college production (1580 rushing yards, 18 rushing TDs, 6.1 yards per carry average this year alone!), the power, and the elite balance to be a franchise superstar for whichever team he falls to in this year’s NFL Draft.

Whoever selects this man will be riding out the next decade of their team’s success in style. Don’t knock the pick or the player because these other mock drafts all think alike; the draft rarely goes the way they project anyways. Instead, judge Robinson for the exceptional talent that he is and for the steal that he will become-drafted at least 17 picks too late for reasons that are entirely overthought and artificially devaluing in nature.

CONTEXT

The Ravens are a middling offensive team, even with the recent additions of Nelson Agholor and Odell Beckham Jr., that hold playoff aspirations year-in and year-out. Their defense is as talented as any in the AFC North and they field a prized secondary that rivals that of any in the league, but you don’t win games without supreme talent at skill positions. To win in the NFL playoffs you need several offensive weapons and they get one more here in Bijan Robinson.

The Ravens make it a habit of selecting the best players available regardless of the team’s current positional depth and they will do so once more here with their selection of Robinson. Look no further than to last year’s draft when they selected S Kyle Hamilton at No. 14 despite already having starter Chuck Clarke (a rumored target of the Eagles last offseason; now a Jet!) firmly entrenched on their roster. No one was expecting the Ravens to draft a safety so high last year and that is because people focus on need and scheme more than they focus on the talent of the player. Such an approach cost the Eagles Justin Jefferson and it costs the league here too in this mock draft. The Ravens stick with their drafting the best player approach and are handsomely rewarded here with snagging the highest touted RB to come out of the draft since Saquon Barkley in 2018.

To those who say that they already have J.K. Dobbins & Gus Edwards on the roster, I say look at the value around the league of having a deep rotation in your RB room. You can never have too many elite players at skill positions on your roster. With this selection, Robinson immediately becomes the most dynamic weapon on a Ravens offense that is sorely lacking star-power to help initiate the offense through besides Lamar Jackson, whose situation with the team is still very much up in the air, though, it seems more likely that he and the team will work something out following the recent signing of Odell Beckham Jr. (and the accompanying FaceTime photos Jackson posted).

Elsewhere, Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely make a great tight end duo and all but with only one year of elite-level production between them can we really say that either is as positionless of a star as someone like Travis Kelce is in this league? With Robinson, you can. He may play running back but his talent transcends the position in the most tantalizing of ways. He is an elite-level talent who is artificially devalued because of the position that he plays. He is the best player left on the board and his catching ability is criminally underrated. He will get you the tough yards that win you the big games and you can get creative by playing him in the slot or as a flexed out WR4 option to create mismatches with the defense’s personnel. Alongside Jackson, Robinson will immediately form one of the most menacing backfields the game of football has seen in a long time. The duo of Lamar Jackson and Bijan Robinson will be an unstoppable force whom together will hoist the Lombardi during their time together in Baltimore. He is the pick if the league allows him to fall this far in the draft because come Sunday everyone will regret having to gameplan for this man when he could have been theirs to field.

EPILOGUE

Even if Lamar forces his way out, (which looks unlikely with the recent signing of Odell; Odell doesn’t sign if he thinks Lamar is leaving!), you are still drafting a top five player in this draft class all the way down here at No. 22 which is an absolute STEAL any way you slice it! Don’t discount Bijan Robinson just because the man plays RB or just because he doesn’t fill a “team need”.

Realistically, I don’t think Bijan falls out of the top 15-20 in the actual draft with the Eagles picking at No. 10, the Texans at No. 12, and the Bucs at No. 19 but if he’s still there he is a STEAL! He will produce like early Ezekiel Elliott did for the Cowboys and he will instantly catapult a borderline playoff team firmly into the dance for the Lombardi. He fell far but his draft day slide stops here.

2023 BGN Mock Draft Order

1) Panthers (pheebthegoose): QB Bryce Young
2) Texans (Phoenix X Minimus): QB C.J. Stroud
3) Cardinals (alwaysaphillyfan): EDGE Will Anderson
4) Colts (eaglenomics): QB Anthony Richardson
5) Seahawks (The Player Formerly Known as Mousecop): DT Jalen Carter
6) Lions (Sam2TheMaximum): DE Tyree Wilson
7) Raiders (joey2arms): OT Paris Johnson Jr.
8) Falcons (Kephas): CB Christian Gonzalez
9) Bears (chewy wellington): OT Peter Skoronski
10) Eagles (Philly21): CB Devon Witherspoon
11) Titans (RachAttack): WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
12) Texans (Domonate): WR Quentin Johnston
13) Jets (JawnJam): OT Broderick Jones
14) Patriots (Amish Eagle Lion): CB Joey Porter Jr.
15) Packers (bdawk4ever): QB Will Levis
16) Commanders (the dog did it): OT Darnell Wright
17) Steelers (Dr.MidnightGreen): CB Deonte Banks
18) Lions (DreadPirateRocco): DT Adetomiwa Adebawore
19) Buccaneers (Neil Dutton): DT Calijah Kancey
20) Seahawks (wardbell92): DE Myles Murphy
21) Chargers (Brendanekstrom): TE Dalton Kincaid
22) Ravens (Rollinpin): RB Bijan Robinson
23) Vikings (FierceDisc65)
24) Jaguars (Leo Bedio)
25) Giants (dkays)
26) Cowboys (roberticus01)
27) Bills (EHyungNim)
28) Bengals (mainmanham)
29) Saints (RiverCityEagle)
30) Eagles (ablesser88)
31) Chiefs (Hoosinole)

Now it’s time for you to vote for who YOU think should be selected in the 2023 BGN Community Consensus Mock Draft.

1) Panthers: QB C.J. Stroud
2) Texans: QB Bryce Young
3) Cardinals: EDGE Will Anderson
4) Colts: QB Anthony Richardson
5) Seahawks: DT Jalen Carter
6) Lions: DE Tyree Wilson
7) Raiders: OT Paris Johnson Jr.
8) Falcons: CB Christian Gonzalez
9) Bears: OT Peter Skoronski
10) Eagles: CB Devon Witherspoon
11) Titans: WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
12) Texans: DE Myles Murphy
13) Jets: OT Broderick Jones
14) Patriots: CB Joey Porter Jr.
15) Packers: DE Nolan Smith
16) Commanders: OT Darnell Wright
17) Steelers: CB Deonte Banks
18) Lions: DT Calijah Kancey
19) Buccaneers: QB Will Levis
20) Seahawks: DE Lukas Van Ness
21) Chargers: RB Bijan Robinson
22) Ravens: