As teams release their 2026 NFL Draft war room videos, it can sometimes tell us more about the Detroit Lions’ process. We’ve already seen the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens reveal tarde offers they received from the Lions that ended up not going through.
But there’s another moment from the Ravens video that involves a critical point in the Lions’ draft. In the second round, Detroit moved from Pick 50 to 44 to select Michigan edge defender Derrick Moore. In order to make that move, the Lions had
to jump right in front of the Ravens, and many have speculated that because Ravens head coach Jesse Minter had coached Moore at Michigan, that it was smart of Detroit to jump Baltimore to get him.
The Ravens’ video shows their reaction as the Lions trade in front of them and select Moore.
The way the moment is framed, it appears Baltimore instead wanted Missouri defensive end Zion Young, who was their eventual pick at 45. Throughout the few minutes leading up to the moment, several members of the Ravens front office continue to mention Young and the team’s comfortability in drafting him.
“I think Young is worth taking, right?”Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta says to the room at some point. “I feel strong about Young, don’t you Oz(zie Newsome)?”
“Yeah,” Newsome replies.
“We got a first-round grade on Young,” DeCosta continued.
In the video, the Ravens claim Young was their second-best player available starting on Day 2 of the draft. They never reveal who that top player was.
So, when the Lions traded up ahead of them, their immediate thought was that it was for Young.
“Yeah, that’s gonna be for Zion Young… GOD!” DeCosta said to the room, clearly expressing some frustration.
When the pick was announced to be Moore, it’s hard to read the Ravens’ reaction. We see the pick announced, and then there is a quick editing cut, and a very quiet room. They calmly decide on Young, who they say aloud was the “20th player on [their] board.”
Overall, it appears to suggest the Ravens liked Young more that Moore, but we never really get a good sense of what their thoughts were on Moore. Maybe they preferred Young, maybe some savvy editing made it look that way. It’s possible Moore was their top preference, but DeCosta’s initial frustration when he thought Detroit was going to take Young suggests otherwise.
Ultimately, though, it doesn’t matter all that much what the Ravens preferred. If Detroit gets the player they are hoping Moore will be, the cost of spending the 128th overall pick to trade up and get him will be long forgotten.
Another small revelation in the video is the fact that Baltimore took calls from both the Lions and Packers for a trade up to the 45th overall pick. It appears the Lions had an option in place to trade with the Ravens (Picks 50 and 128 for 45), but opted to trade ahead of them instead at the exact same price.
You can watch the entire sequence of events in the Ravens 2026 war room video here, with the second round scenes taking place around the 30:05 mark.
