OTL: The Kickoff of Mock Draft Fridays 2026!

The search continues for the next Baltimore Ravens head coach as interviews are ongoing. However, John Harbaugh has landed a new gig before his old team even completed their first round of interviews.

Congrats to John. I have questions about whether this is actually sustainable or if he still has it as a coach, but that remains to be seen. After the hiring, it was reported that Todd Monken would be following him to New York with his play sheet in his shorts. However, it isn’t just about the guys leaving Baltimore. Word is that Harbaugh’s search for a new Defensive Coordinator has overlapped with the Ravens’ head coaching search.

Now, my personal opinion is that for this one, it is a good thing. I made it clear last week that Weaver wasn’t my favorite choice for the Head Coaching job because I just don’t want a CEO style Head Coach on the Ravens. That’s not the archetype we should go for this time around. Of course there is going to be some overlap with these searches, and good candidates are going to show up for other coordinator jobs around the league, so prepare yourself, Ravens flock.

Now we get to the fun, our first Mock Draft Friday of 2026. Doing Mock Drafts right now is hard because we don’t know how EDC is going to run the draft without John. Maybe the guys we crossed off the list in the past are now viable candidates.

For the first mock draft for Mock Draft Friday, we will be doing this mock as if a CEO-type head coach has taken over the Ravens.

(Ignore the Oke pick at 249; as I was writing this, he announced that he was returning to school.)

The Ravens are picking at 14, which is where they grabbed All-Pro Kyle Hamilton a few years back. As far as mocking this year’s selection, it’s difficult, as we don’t know who will be in charge or what that coach will value. On this timeline, I would assume that the CEO head coach would want more physicality up front, and this is what Mauigoa provides. While he played RT in college, he will be moving inside to play RG in Baltmiore. I love players who can play both guard and tackle. Outside of that, Mauigoa is a beast up front.

Francis Mauigoa is the answer if you want to build a bully up front.

Whether he ends up at guard or tackle at the NFL level it doesn’t really matter, he will play under control, with the ability to sustain blocks and shows execllent power. pic.twitter.com/kAYvYSzHjY

— Ryder McConville (@RyderM25) January 9, 2026

No more nightmares of 77 here today, ladies and gentlemen. Now, we need to address the elephant in the room: the perception that you can’t take a guard at 14. Well, I would counter with two things. One, he isn’t a pure guard, and he could eventually take over at Tackle if Roger Rosengarten struggles again or moves to the left side as Ronnie Stanley gets older. Number two, didn’t we watch the Ravens offense get annihilated by awful guard play? I get that fans want the true impact positions targeted with this top pick, but this draft is generally poor in edge rushers and defensive linemen, so we have to pick and choose, and Mauigoa would be an excellent pick.

With that said, we of course need defensive line help, mainly on the interior. I like Travis Jones, but we need much more, and with Nnamdi Madubuike probably not returning at this point, Caleb Banks is my choice here in the second round.

Caleb Banks (6’6” 334) Florida

+ Massive frame with 35” arm length
+ Burst off the snap
+ Active hands
+ Athleticism and size allows him to line up all along the line
+ 20% win rate on true pass sets in 2024
+ Can power through double teams
+ Rare movement skills for his size… pic.twitter.com/DeuFTWZKG9

— Bengals & Brews (@BengalsBrews) January 13, 2026

Banks’s year was derailed by a foot injury, from which he tried to return after ten weeks. While yes, he does have a high missed tackle rate, a lot of that was due to fighting back from the injury. This is a steal for the Ravens if they can get him to fall this far. He is a big, fast, explosive DL of the type that this team needs.

Dennis-Sutton is a powerful edge setter who uses more power than speed at this point, so he is a good change-up to Mike Green. Lee is at the taller corner, who had a lot of production on balls in the air. Daniels is a good contrast from Zay Flowers for the receiver room, a tall, wide receiver with good ball skills.

Taaffe put some insane coverage grades (according to PFF) at free safety this year. Roberts is another big guard who can move people in the run game. Green is another Tackle depth pick who could be solid.

This is how I would think this would go with a CEO-type of Head Coach, a balanced board with needs being filled all over.

The post OTL: The Kickoff of Mock Draft Fridays 2026! appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/01/16/out-to-lunch/mock-draft-fridays-26/