One of the staples of NFL draft season is siphoning out just how many mid-round picks the Baltimore Ravens will end up gathering in any given year, whether through trades, including draft-day trades, or through compensatory selections.
They shockingly had no extra picks in 2023 going in, but the previous season was typically loaded. At the end of the weekend, they took home 11 new players, of which an absolutely comical six of them were drafted in the fourth round. And yet they still didn’t quite get everything they wanted in that space.
Things went awry in the back half of the round. Hoping to hold out for a wide receiver—specifically Calvin Austin III out of Memphis—they first addressed punter at pick 130, Jordan Stout, hoping that their guy would be available at 139.
He almost was, making it to 138, where the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted him just one spot ahead of the Ravens’ next pick, which they were going to use on Austin, according to Peter King. Going into his second season and still waiting for his first opportunity to face the team that decided to draft a punter first, he admits he still thinks about that.
“It’s personal”, he told Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, acknowledging that it’s been on his mind since the draft. “But that will all be settled out, lord willing, this year and the times we see them. I just have it circled. Crazy. A punter, huh?”.
For what it’s worth, that punter posted 45.9 gross yards per punt as a rookie with a 40.1-yard net. While he had seven touchbacks, a full 45.6 percent of his punts ended up inside the Ravens’ opponents’ 20-yard line. Those are commendable numbers, especially for a rookie. He should be a good one.
Of course, Baltimore aggressively attacked the wide receiver position this offseason, including using their first-round pick on Zay Flowers, a player who arguably shares some of the same traits that they would have valued in Austin.
As for the Steelers, they are still hoping that the young man proves it was worth it for them to have stolen him out from underneath the Ravens’ feet—not that they likely knew he was their target. But the cold reality is he has yet to play in a game, even in the preseason.
Austin suffered a foot injury in the practice before the team’s first preseason game last year. He began the season on the Reserve/Injured List, but once he returned to practice during the regular season, he aggravated the injury and ultimately had surgery, ending his season.
The way he’s being spoken of this offseason, however, it sounds as though the team does have some significant plans for him. Not only can he be a deep threat and a possible slot option, he may also use him on some gadget plays such as end-arounds. He should also be in the running for return specialist role.
