Since the first free agency wave, the Baltimore Ravens have gone through a ton of changes. The old regime and remaining members from their Super Bowl XLVII have almost all left with the departures of Joe Flacco and Terrell Suggs and it is time for a new one to step forward. The predicted torchbearer C.J. Mosley walked out the door as well after signing a record-breaking five-year, $85 million deal with the New York Jets. Mosley was the best player on the Ravens defence for maybe the last five seasons and replacing him is going to be incredibly tough.
However, despite all these departures and changes, the Ravens are still looking to fill the same holes they had entering free agency. There’s been a lot of turnover in Baltimore but the players that departed either had understudies ready to play or had their roster spot filled quickly. Though Baltimore still has a ton of holes to fill before September, free agency didn’t and shouldn’t alter how Eric DeCosta draft’s in April.
Free Agency Should Not Change the Baltimore Ravens Draft Strategy
First Free Agency Wave
April 25th will be DeCosta’s first draft and there’s a lot of pressure on him to nail it considering his free agency strategy. His strategy was similar to that of former Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome‘s, one in which you let other teams overpay around you and let your key additions speak during the season. The subtractions this year feel larger than in past seasons but the principle remains the same. Baltimore added an incredibly skilled and intelligent player in Earl Thomas and reinforced both the secondary and the run game by adding Mark Ingram at running back and Justin Bethel at corner. All have been to multiple Pro Bowls – Bethel as a special teamer – and all came at reasonable prices.
These additions don’t really fix any problems the Ravens had last year but they create a stronger foundation and keep their respective position groups strong.
As Newsome has shown in the past, the Ravens typically like to wait out the initial wave of free agency and then pick up the castoffs from other teams in the later months. This could be players that are released or players that just aren’t seeing very much interest after down-years. DeCosta might be done for now but it would seem foolish to think he believes the Ravens are secure moving into the 2019 season.
The Ravens Needs
The Ravens had three specific areas to shore up in free agency: Left guard, edge defender, and wide receiver. None of those positions were filled and there was little buzz on the Ravens trying to filling them. This was even before considering the lack of remaining leadership presences on both sides of the ball. Then you look at the players the Ravens brought in and their cap space. The Ravens are flying pretty close to the cap ceiling with about $16 million in remaining space. With that money or through the draft they still need to find a pass-catching running back, more wide receiver depth and a defensive end to replace Brent Urban.
These are secondary needs but ones the Ravens can’t fill out with players on their roster. Ingram’s ability to catch passes out of the backfield has improved but he’s far from a three-down back, and Baltimore only has two receivers on the roster that have played more than one NFL game. If Baltimore roles with this offence, they are looking a lot more like Mike Wallace, Jeremy Maclin and Terrance West – when the Ravens finished with the league’s 27th ranked offence – than you are than Anquan Boldin, Torrey Smith and Ray Rice. This is not de-valuing Ingram or Willie Snead but it shows an extreme lack of versatility.
It is going to be incredibly difficult for Baltimore to fill all these needs in the draft unless they get some help from other teams releasing problems.
How Baltimore Will Fill Thier Needs
Last year at the draft, Newsome put on a clinic of how to handle the draft. Going into day-one, Baltimore held eight picks, one in each round and two in the sixth, and came out with 12 selections whilst only giving up a 2019 second rounder in the process. This year they are minus that second round pick and a seventh but have multiple picks in each of the third, fourth and sixth rounds. This puts a lot of pressure on DeCosta to find studs in the later rounds but also gives the Ravens a ton of flexibility moving around the draft order. It is a great year to have this flexibility too.
The Ravens aren’t going to stay in the position they are currently in either. It has happened in past seasons under Newsome and shouldn’t change. NFL Draft Analyst and former Ravens scout Daniel Jerimiah even was quoted as saying “To me, if the Ravens pick at 22, I will buy you dinner the next time we’re together” to NBC Sports Peter King. The Ravens traded back multiple times in last years draft and still accumulated a lot of really good talent that stepped in immediately to make an impact in 2018. 2019’s draft is also headlined by its depth at positions the Ravens could use.
There may not be a slam dunk pick for the Ravens right now but if DeCosta likes a player at the end of the first to end of the fourth round, he has the tools to get them.
Potential Targets
The best parts of the 2019 draft class are likely going to be found in the middle rounds. Though the Ravens need both a top-end pass rusher and a couple of receivers, there are a ton of players that can fall into the Ravens’ hands with either the 22nd pick or 85th.
Pass rusher is debatably Baltimore’s biggest need after losing Suggs and is the 2019 classes strongest position group. There is an elite group of seven edge rushers that will all likely go in the first round but if there is a run on quarterbacks and reaches at wide receiver, more than one of them could be waiting for the Ravens at 22 or later. Zach Allen and Jachai Polite are the likely names to be left on the board when Baltimore selects but a name to watch is Clelin Ferrell. Ferrell is maybe the second best pure rusher in the class but has seen his stock slip with the stand out combine performances of Montez Sweat and Brian Burns. All five of these options would be a dream come true for the Ravens in the first round.
If all these guys are gone, wide receiver is another position with a ton of value to the Ravens. With all the backend talent in the draft, the Ravens would trade back and still be able to grab a ready-to-play receiver later in the first or in the second. The receiving class lacks top-end quality but makes up for it with depth. Baltimore is almost certain to select a receiver in the third or fourth round and there is a giant group to choose from. N’Keal Harry could be a good fit in the early rounds and Parris Campbell would fit great in the middle rounds.
Last Word
Though the Cleveland Browns have loaded up with a couple of key additions since free agency opened, the AFC North is still very up for grabs. It would be easy for the Ravens to turtle for a season until next offseason where they have significantly more cap room, but Baltimore also needs to be smart on how they use the rookie years of quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Ravens have four more years before they have to pay Jackson and they can’t waste any time just because a team in their division looks good on paper.
DeCosta’s first offseason isn’t close to being over.
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