Welcome into the lounge. I'm Ryan Mink here with Garrett Downing, and we are thrilled to sit down with new Ravens Tight End Durham-Smith. Thank you for joining us.

Absolutely. And Durham, I was just talking to you about this before we started, but you know, you and Mark, similar sizes out there. I'm getting a little bit confused. You're like the the new guy but i feel like i'm looking at mark andrews out there how's this working out for you you know we are similar size it's funny too because we came in together so okay right we're the same age similar size you know similar number um but it's been great to work with him so far you know obviously uh a franchise legend a, a great player in this league for a long time. I'm a guy who I've watched a lot coming in the same year, and it's been really cool to work with him. Yeah, yeah. The coaches are keeping you separate apart. They can, they know, right? Well, yeah, for the most part. For the most part. You know what? you should lean into this because Lamar likes throwing the mark so much.

100%. I need to scrunch my number up a little bit more. Yeah. And I'll just, I'll copy his mannerism. Yeah. Red zone targets right there. You mentioned that you guys came in together in 2018. You were part of that 2018 draft class. Did you have a relationship with him at all prior to coming here? Or was it just appreciation kind of from afar? What was the relationship that you guys had? Yeah, I mean, it was brief. It's funny because you go through all that pre-draft stuff, even though it was almost 10 years ago now. And you get to know everyone just a little bit. And being in the same class, we have mutual friends, guys that I grew up with guys that I've played with, that have played with him. But other than that, it was kind of just appreciation from afar. And then now kind of being able to work with him six, seven weeks in, it's awesome. He's a great guy. A fun guy to watch on the field and pick his brain. So it's been a lot of fun. Is it kind of crazy to have two guys from that draft class?

The Ravens also dropped another tight end that year, you know, Hayden Hearst as well. But is it kind of crazy to have two guys

from that class together here with the longevity that the two of you have been able to have

throughout your career? I think it's cool. I think it's cool how our tight end room is set up right now because you do have me and Mark who've played a good amount of years. And then we have a bunch of young guys who are very talented coming in. So it's kind of fun to be able to work with both sides of it. You know, you can learn from those young guys, too. The game is changing in a lot of

ways, but, you know, they can also learn from, you know, experience that we have. So it's a cool setup. It's funny, actually, this was the fifth time in Ravens history that we've drafted two tight ends in the same class. We're known for double dipping at tight end in the draft. Now we're doing it in free agency.

Right?

We're double dipping

if we went back to 2018.

Yeah.

We'll get another one.

We'll get another one. for double dipping at tight end in the draft. Now we're doing it in free agency. Right? We're double dipping.

We went back to 2018.

We'll get another one. 2018 worked out pretty much. That class is a historic draft class. Exactly. Mark Lamar on down the line. Yeah, yeah. So we're thrilled to have you here, Durham, here in Baltimore. And can you just take us into kind of how it came to be? you know, why were the Ravens the team that you signed with?

Yeah, I mean, you know, a were the Ravens the team that you signed with?

Yeah, I mean, you know, a lot of things go into it when free agency opens. For me, it was number one,

there's a lot of familiarity with this scheme. You know, I was with Declan last year. I have a lot of respect for Declan and this system. And then, you know, working past that, it's just, you know, this organization over the years is, you know, tier A.

Like this organization is synonymous with winning, you know, tough AFC North.

Like this is cool stuff to be a part of.

So when you combine those two things, it was kind of a no-brainer for me.

And then like I said earlier, like I mentioned, being able to come in and work with Mark a

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