The Baltimore Ravens lost Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar in free agency, but they still have All-Pro Mark Andrews, so would the team really use the 14th-overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft to select Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq? A longtime draft guru revealed the surprising truth.
Speaking to “The Lounge Podcast” with Ravens.com insiders Garrett Downing and Clifton Brown, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. was asked about whether Sadiq is good enough to justify using a first-round pick. Particularly when this is a draft class deep in talented tight ends further down the board.
Beginning at the 5:35 mark, Kiper said, “Yeah, he (Sadiq) would be that good. I mean he really would be because he’s such an athlete, and he’s got a great attitude. He’s gonna keep getting better and better, he’s such a young player, a young, developing star. And you can move him around as one of those chess pieces.”
This level of enthusiasm for Sadiq is shared by other teams, so the Ravens may need to act fast to take him. Kiper named the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers as teams to watch if the Ravens don’t make Sadiq the 14th player selected on Thursday, April 23.
Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta has enough incentive to beat the crowd. If only to acquire the type of “supreme talent” he thought Likely would become.
Kenyon Sadiq Can Become What Isaiah Likely Never Did
There are shades of what Likely was supposed to be for the Ravens in how Kiper describes Sadiq’s skill-set. Specifically, the part about Sadiq moving around like a chess piece-style roving receiver.
Likely was supposed to offer the same matchup nightmare possibilities, but he rarely lived up to the billing. Sadiq already plays the way the Ravens hoped Likely would.
The former high school wide receiver is described by Dane Brugler of The Athletic as “a dynamic asset who can line up across the formation and block his tail off.” Brugler believes 21-year-old Sadiq “would give Baltimore a multidimensional pass catcher.”
That would surely make Lamar Jackson happy after the franchise quarterback lost one of his favorite targets when Likely joined the New York Giants. He reunited with former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, while Kolar moved to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Those moves prompted DeCosta to be up front about wanting to exit this draft having selected multiple tight ends. Exactly when DeCosta takes those tight ends off the board will be important when there’s depth at the position and other fits in Round 1.
Ravens Not Short of First-Round Alternatives and Tight End Options
DeCosta took Likely and Kolar in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft, and Kiper believes the Ravens could justify waiting again for tight end help. Kiper name-dropped Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers, “a former quarterback” who Kiper says (at 4:09) “I had a couple teams say, ‘hey, take some weight off of him, make a wide receiver out of Stowers.’”
Any concerns about Stowers being more of a wide receiver in a tight end’s body also apply to 241-pound Sadiq, but the Ravens don’t need to worry. Not when Andrews is a capable blocker and veteran Durham Smythe was signed in free agency because of his ability to put defenders on skates.
Those factors make Stowers an intriguing pick, and Kiper even has him going to the Ravens in Round 2 of his final mock draft. In this scenario, DeCosta first uses the 14th choice on Utah offensive lineman Spencer Fano, who Kiper believes can play right tackle, guard or even center in the pros.
Sticking up front, DeCosta could shun Fano for a natural guard the GM has already endorsed. Or maybe the Ravens lean into defense and bolster a cornerback rotation thin on star power by using their first-rounder to take a cover man who’s an All-Pro clone.
Ultimately, the Ravens are sitting pretty at a sweet spot in the opening round of this draft. What they do will come down to a choice between making a functional, but solid pick like Fano or rolling the dice on the exciting athletic upside of Sadiq.
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