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SPORTS Thursday 6 april 2023

Ravens GM: Jackson’s status doesn’t

affect draft prep

By NOAH TRISTER in various different press are,” DeCosta said. “We
AP Sports Writer conferences and stuff, so go into every draft trying to
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — we’re going to try to just take any kind of bias out,
Baltimore general manag- kind of defer to those ques- any kind of need-based
er Eric DeCosta said Lamar tions and move forward to situation out of the draft
Jackson’s situation isn’t the draft.” equation. We really do try
causing the Ravens to look DeCosta said Jackson’s to build a board that’s re-
at quarterbacks different- situation isn’t causing the ally best player available, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) leaves the
ly in the upcoming draft, team to look at quarter- and that process involves field after the end of the first half of an NFL football game against
although he did say the backs differently than usu- really nine months, starting the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, in Jacksonville,
team could conceivably al. “I don’t think we really in early August.”q Fla.
take one in the first round. Associated Press
DeCosta, coach John
Harbaugh and director of
player personnel Joe Hor-
tiz hosted a pre-draft news
conference Wednesday,
and reporters were told to
keep questions focused on
the draft. Of course, Jack-
son’s status affects all as-
pects of the team’s future,
and if he’s not a part of it,
then Baltimore would need
a quarterback.
“It just depends on the
board,” DeCosta said
when asked if taking a
quarterback in the first
round is a consideration. “I
guess I’d have to say yes
because we have quar-
terbacks in our top 31. So
just based on that alone,
simple math, I would have
to say yes.” As of now, the
Ravens have the 22nd pick
in the first round.
The Ravens put the fran-
chise tag on Jackson last
month, so if he were to
reach an agreement with
another team and Bal-
timore decided not to
match it, the Ravens could
receive two first-round
picks in return. Jackson also
announced recently that
he’d requested a trade,
and DeCosta wouldn’t
comment Wednesday on
the ramifications of that.
“I understand those ques-
tions,” he said. “I think
we’ve spoken about this
situation probably five dif-
ferent times this spring,