Lamar Jackson knew the Ravens needed WR Zay Flowers

The Baltimore Ravens added Zay Flowers to their wide receiver mix with the No. 22 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Flowers has been exceptional for Baltimore during his first professional season, breaking multiple rookie records and making the most of his opportunities.

“I heard about Zay Flowers in youth football growing up. They were always talking about, ‘The little kid; No. 4,’ [or] No. 7 or something like that. I always heard about Zay, [and] in high school, college, he was still that same guy. And when I was watching him on tape and stuff like that, I [was] like, ‘Man, he …’ Even though his team [at Boston College] wasn’t … They weren’t all that. I don’t want to say it like that, but they weren’t all that.” (laughter) “But Zay made the most of it. [He] made the most of his opportunities, and he just showed it. He was the same guy from youth football all the way up until now. So, I just put a bug in [executive vice president & general manager] Eric [DeCosta]’s ear; I was like, ‘Man, we need to go get him,’ and he just did the rest.”

When asked about Flowers, quarterback Lamar Jackson told a story about how he told Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta that the team needed to go get Flowers in the draft. Luckily for the Ravens, Flowers fell right into their lap at No. 22, and the rest is history.