Ravens rookie WR has ‘bone to pick’ with division rival for passing on him in NFL Draft

Fourth-round wideout Devontez Walker thought he was going to be a Cincinnati Bengal and now he wants to make them pay twice a year.

Growing up, Baltimore Ravens rookie wide receiver Devontez Walker modeled his game after former Cincinnati Bengals legendary wideout A.J. Green.

Many of the future Hall of Famer’s best career highlights came in AFC North duels against the Charm City franchise, which aptly earned him the infamous nickname ‘The Ravens Killer’ because of all the agony he inflicted with explosive and often clutch playmaking ability.

On a recent episode of ‘The Lounge’ podcast, Walker revealed that he was surprised the Ravens were the team who stopped his fall in the 2024 NFL Draft at No. 113 overall in the fourth round due to a lack of pre-draft interest. Even more interestingly, he also shared how he expected to follow in Green’s footsteps and become a Bengal because they showed the most interest in the months leading up to the draft.

“I thought it was going to be the Bengals,” Walker said. “I met with them the most pre-draft… The Bills and the Bengals [are who] I had a real good feeling about but the Ravens were not on my mind at all.”

While he also met with the New England Patriots—where his college quarterback Drake Maye landed in the first round—and Buffalo Bills, it was the Bengals who he built the most rapport with leading up to the draft. However, when Cincinnati had a chance to take him in the third round with the No. 80 overall selection, they opted to go in a different direction at the position and take Jermaine Burton out of Alabama, which didn’t sit right with him.

“I got a bone to pick with Cincy,” Walker said. “That’s where I thought I was going but they took another receiver at that spot… Cincinnati, that game is gonna get rough that game.”

Walker shared how met with or had extensive talks with every other team in the league except the Ravens outside of a short interaction with wide receivers coach Greg Lewis at the Scouting Combine.

“I met with every team and the Ravens didn’t get no zoom, no visits [or] nothing,” Walker said.

After being projected to come off the board sometime on Day 2 in the second or third round, he was initially disappointed but was grateful to get drafted nonetheless. His spirits were lifted even further after hearing how glowingly Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta spoke about him following the pick.

“There’s nothing wrong with falling to the fourth round then to hear [Eric DeCosta] talk about you’re a great player, we love what you do and he was telling me things that he liked about me,” Walker said. “Hearing an NFL [general manager] tell you everything he likes about you… In that moment I felt appreciated. I felt wanted.”

Walker intends to repay the Ravens for their belief in him by carving out whatever role is needed of him to help the overall team succeed. Whether it’s covering kicks and punts on special teams or using his blazing speed as a deep threat on offense capable of taking the top off of opposing defenses while clearing out space for his teammates to work underneath, he is fully committed to doing whatever it takes.

“My mindset now is I get the chance to be one of the guys I looked up to growing up,” Walker said. “The biggest [rookie season] goal of mine is to find my role. Whatever my role is whether it’s special teams or being a key player on offense or just being that plug-in guy. Somebody you just throw out there in certain situations, it doesn’t matter. Just finding that role on the team and just creating momentum off that.”

Walker won’t have to wait long to get his first taste of the Ravens and Bengals rivalry as the two fierce division foes will face off on Week 5 on October 6th in Cincinnati. He likely already has that game circled on his calendar and will get at least one more crack at them in Week 10 on November 7th in Baltimore in primetime on Thursday Night Football.