After staying quiet in free agency, there are still three missing pieces for the Baltimore Ravens as the NFL Draft approaches.<\/p>\n
The Baltimore Ravens don’t tend to spend in free agency. This year is no different. After locking up Ronnie Stanley to a long-term deal<\/a>\u00a0and signing DeAndre Hopkins to a one-year deal<\/a>, the Ravens stayed quiet when so many other teams made big splashes by spending on expensive free agents. To make the push to play in next year’s Super Bowl, Baltimore still needs to make a few moves.<\/p>\n It took a couple of weeks for Derrick Henry to find his groove in Baltimore, but once he did, the offense hummed for most of 2024. Henry is at his best when the season wears down, and the defense is gassed. With a rare blend of power and speed, he’s one of the true workhorse backs in the NFL who can carry a team. Lamar Jackson, meanwhile, gives the offense juice with his ability to bust off big runs.<\/p>\n The Ravens, however, are lacking a change-of-pace back to complement Henry. There are several capable running backs still available on the open market, but none scream out as a game-breaker. The Ravens will need to look to the draft for this sort of weapon.<\/p>\n TreVeyon Henderson<\/a> is one of the top running backs in the 2025 NFL Draft, and his long speed is what makes him so dangerous. Ever since he was a freshman at Ohio State, Henderson found ways to make an impact by busting off big runs. Adding Henderson would give the Ravens a player who can play all three downs and also contribute as a pass catcher. In four years at Ohio State<\/a>, Henderson hauled in more than 75 passes for over 800 yards and six touchdowns.<\/p>\n Another player who should be on the Ravens’ radar is RJ Harvey. After transferring from Virginia, Harvey lit it up at UCF. He was highly productive as a runner<\/a> and also tacked on several receiving scores at UCF. Harvey might not be the biggest back, but his straight-line speed and ability to make guys miss in open space make him a dangerous weapon. In Baltimore, he could serve as a change-of-pace back to Henry and help out in the passing game.<\/p>\n Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins give the Ravens a solid tandem at cornerback. Wiggins is coming off a promising rookie season where he showed growth throughout the year. Humphrey remains one of the best lockdown corners in the NFL and is coming off a 2024 campaign where he recorded a career-high six interceptions<\/a>. The search is on, however, for a dependable slot corner.<\/p>\n The Kyle Hamilton experiment at slot corner allowed the rangy safety to make plays as a pass rusher, but the Ravens’ defense improved immensely once Hamilton returned to his natural safety position<\/a>. Arthur Maulet was recently released<\/a>, opening the door for 2024 fourth-round pick T.J. Tampa to enter the competition for the starting slot cornerback position. Tampa was a menace at Iowa State but fell in the draft because of a slow 40 time. He has starter potential<\/a>, but the Ravens still need to add depth at the position.<\/p>\n Several teams have made big signings at cornerback to start free agency, meaning players will likely be available for trade. The Ravens could also continue to wait out free agency and pounce on a player that fits their scheme. Names like Isaiah Simmons and Jonathan Jones could make sense, as the Ravens have shown over the years that they’re willing to take fliers on high-pedigree players like Simmons who never hit their full potential. Jones would give them a proven veteran who plays his best ball in zone schemes and can line up in the slot or outside in a pinch.<\/p>\n The Ravens have remained contenders in the AFC because of their stifling defense. They’ve done that by combining savvy free-agent signings with solid drafting. Nnamdi Madubuike, Hamilton, and Humphrey have become cornerstones for the defense, and all were first-round picks. Baltimore would benefit from adding another top-tier defender to their defense through the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n Of the possible names available, Xavier Watts<\/a> fits the mold for what the Ravens covet from their defenders. At Notre Dame, Watts was a turnover machine<\/a>. He helped anchor one of the nation’s best defenses in 2023 and 2024 and recorded 13 interceptions between both seasons. Watts was a playmaker at all levels of the field and showed the ability to play in the slot as well as at safety. As a team that covets versatility from its defenders, Baltimore would be a strong fit for Watts on day two of the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n Main Image: Tina MacIntyre-Yee\/Democrat and Chronicle \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the NFL Draft approaching, the Baltimore Ravens need to be aggressive in adding a few missing pieces to their roster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4950,"featured_media":222286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[582,8560,7638,5975,10069,32978],"class_list":["post-222013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ravens","tag-deandre-hopkins","tag-kyle-hamilton","tag-ravens-featured","tag-ronnie-stanley","tag-treveyon-henderson","tag-xavier-watts"],"modified_by":"Drew Crabtree","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4950"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222013"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222287,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222013\/revisions\/222287"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Three Missing Pieces for the Baltimore Ravens<\/h2>\n
An Explosive Running Back<\/h3>\n
Depth at Cornerback<\/h3>\n
Another Cerebral Safety<\/h3>\n