The Baltimore Ravens were disappointing after their Superbowl victory, and ended 3rd in the AFC North with a .500 record. They had a lot of injuries that hindered their offense and also their special teams. They do have the benefit of having young former draft picks that seem able to rise to the occasion and not be busts. The Ravens are known for having a vicious defense, and while their defense might have been top half in the league, it is no longer the top five defens it once was. Their offense plummeted and had one of the worst running games, having scored only 20 points a game, and averaged the bottom five in yards per game. They will have a chance to fill some gaps on both sides during this draft, they have eight draft picks in total and half of them are before pick 100.
Needs: OL, DL, CB, S
Offensive Lineman: With the offense not doing as great the Ravens need to go back and re-look at the offensive line and see if they have the men they need to succeed. Improvements on offense start with the big guys getting better upfront. The Ravens also lost Micheal Oher to the free agency. While Oher didn’t have the greatest year, he had been one of their starting tackles for quite some time now. I think they need to take a hard look at the Tackle position in the draft and see if they think any of them deserve the number 17 pick. If not I can see them waiting and picking someone up in the second round to start, but surround that tackle with more competition in either free agency, in-house, or a later draft pick who may have be hungry to battle to start.
Defensive Lineman: One of the biggest losses in free agency was Arthur Jones their starting defensive end. Not only did he have a great year and succeeding in his first season as a starter, but he was one of the defensive lineman with the most experience. The Ravens will be looking for a starter to compliment Chris Canty and Haloti Ngata, but are also looking for depth in the end position. Speaking of depth and Mr. Ngata, the ravens should be looking for someone to replace Terrance Cody as Ngatas backup if they don’t end up resigning Cody himself. Ngata is starting to get long in the tooth but would be a great mentor for whoever is picked to replace him in the not so near future.
Cornerback: This position isn’t necessary for someone to compete for a starting position. With the loss of Graham the Ravens lost the good experienced depth they had in the position. Behind Lardarius Webb and Jimmy Smith they have Chykie Brown and injured Asa Jackson. They should consider the mid to late rounds to pick up someone to compete with those two players for the third cornerback position. The way the league is growing pass happy, this is starting to seem more of certainty than just a possibility.
Safety: No one will forget when Ed Reed left the Ravens. After that the Ravens drafted Matt Elam who had a pretty successful season. Now they lost starting safety James Inhedigbo to free agency and should look earlier on in the draft to find someone who they may be able to plug in, if not someone they know can compete against the older players who want the starting spot.
