OTL: How Time Flies…Remembering the Watershed 2018 Draft
Seven years have passed since the Baltimore Ravens selected Lamar Jackson with the 32nd pick in the 2018 Draft. Seven. Years. Where does the time go? Let’s reminisce.
We were coming off a rather unremarkable era of Ravens football: three straight seasons of missing the postseason. The 2017 season in particular ended on this rather unpleasant note.
That play also ended what was the longest playoff drought in North American sports: the Buffalo Bills’ 2000-2017 postseason absence. Bills fans then made record donations to Andy Dalton’s charity. The Ravens were the butt of the joke.
And then, a few months later, Ozzie Newsome announced his impending retirement.
The Baltimore Ravens post-Ozzie Newsome. A bizarre thing to even imagine seven years ago. Hard to imagine it’s been so long since he stepped down. Yet, he had one last draft as the head honcho.
Going in, the Flock knew: it had to be wide receiver. It’s definitely going to be wide receiver!
Calvin Ridley out of Alabama or D.J. Moore from Maryland. The Ravens had the 16th pick. Both players were available. Then they traded down to 22…
Ok, no big deal, the Ravens have done this before. We’re all used to this.
At 22, Moore and Ridley are sitting right there.
Then they traded back again, this time to 25. D.J. Moore went to Carolina at 24. The now former Terrapin would not be a Raven.
It was at this point that 16-year old Ben began to lose interest. It had been a long, long night to this point and to see the Ravens trade back, not once but twice, to not get the player I wanted them to was unfortunate.
Then at 25, they drafted Hayden Hurst, a 25-year old tight end I wasn’t all that familiar with. Ridley went to Atlanta at 26.
That was the point where, disappointed, I went to bed. Not too long after that, I opened Instagram.
That’s when I found out: the Ravens traded back into the first round and drafted Lamar Jackson.
My friend Spencer texted me a few minutes later. We were quite happy that night. Looking back, we were certainly right to feel that way.
I wonder what surprises tonight has in store for us…
I’ll say this though: don’t tune out before it’s over. You never know what might happen.
The post OTL: How Time Flies…Remembering the Watershed 2018 Draft appeared first on Russell Street Report.
Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2025/04/24/out-to-lunch/2018-draft/
