‘Please Take This Guy’: Dabo Kept Texting Ravens About Wiggins
By: Gavin Oliver April 26, 2024

After the 2024 NFL Draft kicked off Thursday night, the Baltimore Ravens kept hearing from Clemson’s head coach.

Dabo Swinney was buzzing the Ravens, sending text messages to them during the first round and imploring Baltimore to take former Tiger cornerback Nate Wiggins while he was still available.

General manager Eric DeCosta and the Ravens wound up doing just that, selecting Wiggins with their first-round pick (30th overall).

“We were getting texts from the head coach,” DeCosta said after Wiggins’ selection. “Dabo was texting us during the first round [saying], ‘Please take this guy.’ So, we’re just very excited about him.”

Wiggins — who became the 18th first-round pick of Swinney’s head coaching tenure — finished his college career (2021-23) with 50 tackles (3.0 for loss), 24 pass breakups, three interceptions (two of which he returned for touchdowns), two forced fumbles, a sack and a blocked field goal over 34 games (18 starts).

According to DeCosta, the Ravens entered the draft feeling like they needed to come out of the first round with a corner or an offensive lineman if possible, and DeCosta didn’t think Wiggins — one of the top corners in this year’s draft class — would still be on the board by the time Baltimore’s pick came up.

But as the first round unfolded with a run on offensive players and then later a run on corners, Wiggins surprisingly fell to the Ravens. He was circled on their draft board, and they were certainly happy to make him the third corner selected in this year’s draft.

“We’re very, very excited to draft Nate Wiggins – in my opinion, the best cover corner in the draft,” DeCosta said. “Highly athletic, fantastic feet. Really, in our opinion, a guy that can grow into being a true shutdown-type corner. Ecstatic that he fell to us.”

 

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