Ravens always planned to draft Kyle Hamilton over Jordan Davis?

On the opening night of the 2022 NFL Draft back on April 28, the Philadelphia Eagles traded up from No. 15 to No. 13 to move in front of the Baltimore Ravens and select Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis. Philadelphia's thought was that Davis wouldn't get past the Ravens in the draft order. 

It appears that's not necessarily accurate. 

According to Ryan Mink of the Ravens' website, Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta said on the latest edition of "The Lounge" podcast that he was thrilled Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton fell to his club at pick No. 14. 

"I was thinking thank God Kyle Hamilton is still on the board because he was the highest-rated player, quite honestly, and it wasn't super close between those two," DeCosta said about comparing Hamilton and Davis. 

"People have asked me, 'Would you have taken Jordan Davis?' Yeah, we would have. Jordan Davis is an excellent football player and fits us very, very well. But as we mocked out and looked at all the different scenarios, in no scenario did we see Kyle there for us."

Four wide receivers were drafted between picks eight and 12. Had that not happened, DeCosta would've been willing to sell choice No. 14 to a team looking to bolster its passing attack. 

"I thought the scenario that would probably be most accurate might be that a team picking in the 20s would have traded up to 14 to take a receiver," he explained. "I thought looking out at it that Chris Olave might have been there at 14. And had that happened, I feel like our phone would have rung."

When the New Orleans Saints grabbed Olave at No. 11 and the Detroit Lions took Jameson Williams at No. 12, Hamilton was inevitably going to remain on the board for two additional selections.