State of the Team: Baltimore Ravens
State of the Team – Baltimore Ravens
After destroying the competition just 2 short seasons ago, their team crumbled in 2007. Their star RB that was supposed to be the missing piece couldn’t produce much more than he did in Buffalo. The defense that has been so dominant in recent history was hit with key injuries and the loss of a few key pieces in Free Agency during the prior off-season which saw them become as inconsistent as they have been during Ryan's nearly decade long tenure. This team has questions on offense, defense and has to deal with a new coach. It’s going to take at least a season or two to get this ship back on track
Coaching Changes
There are many coaching changes to address with the Ravens. Incumbent Head Coach Brian Billick was fired for basically not delivering. In comes Former Eagles Coach Jim Harbaugh and his intense attitude will only add to that defense that has run on attitude for the last couple seasons. OC Rick Neuheisel left before his dismissal accepting the coaching job at his alma mater UCLA and was replaced by Cam Cameron who should help McGahee reach his potential. DC Rex Ryan was originally let go only to return as DC after being briefly considered for the HC job.
2008 Team Needs
Where to begin…
QB – Usually when a new coach starts his regime he starts it with his franchise QB. McNair is ancient and Boller has failed to take advantage of his many opportunities to take spot of a leader. You can rest assured that Harbaugh is targeting his Franchise QB in round 1 or 2.
CB – The Ravens defensive weakness is in the passing game. Both Rolle & McAllister were hit with injuries and David Pittman has been more than a little disappointing. They need to draft a CB or risk not having any depth or a future at that position at all. They need to draft the heir apparent to these guys and play them on nickel and dime to groom them to take over for the aging vets. They signed FA CB Frank Walker from Green Bay, but he is more of a gunner on ST than a player at CB.
WR – Mark Clayton took a step backwards last year. Derrick Mason is 34 and that leaves Demetrius Williams and Yamon Figurs. Yeah, I would classify this as a need.
DE – When Trevor Pryce went down to injury it was evident that the Ravens lacked needed depth at DE. Once again, I say that teams like to follow suit in reproducing the defense of the Superbowl Champions and that could have the Ravens drafting one of the top DE’s high in the first round.
NT - A powerful, compact, pocket-collapsing, run-stuffing nose tackle is needed to backup Kelly Gregg.
MLB – People have been calling for the demise of Ray Lewis for some time, but the time is now to draft his successor. Ray is in fact human and will not play forever as some Ravens’ fans might think.
OLB – Keeping Suggs was huge, but Thomas was not replaced and the pass rush suffered. They have to draft someone to compete with Jarrett Johnson
Possible Free Agent Solutions
As I stated before Re-signing Suggs was huge, without him, the OLB’s would have basically been trash. Suggs helps, but another edge rushing LB would go a long way into improving a mediocre pass defense. They did sign a couple ST players in Ayenbadejo and Walker but missed out on some opportunities to pick up any FA that could have helped them.
It seemed as though the Ravens did have some interest in some FA WR’s out there, but were never seriously involved with any one specifically and missed the boat.
Possible Draft Solutions:
The Ravens currently hold the Following picks…
8th (1st round)
38th (2nd round)
Only Compensatory (3rd round pick) – The Ravens actual 3rd round pick was sent to the Bills as part of the McGahee Deal
In addition they have a 4th (102), 6th (164) & 7th (197). This also combined with compensatory picks in the 3rd, 4th, 6th & one in the 7th.
With only 5 actual picks in 7 round
With the 1st rounder, The Ravens select DT Glenn Dorsey. Dorsey simply can't be contained one-on-one. He has the awards to showcase his dominance, as he claimed the Bronko Nagurski Award for defensive player of the year, the Vince Lombardi Award for outstanding lineman and the Outland Trophy as most outstanding interior lineman. As a senior, Dorsey had 64 tackles (39 solo), 11.5 tackles for loss and six sacks while playing the second half of the season with a sore knee. He's explosive off the ball, which helped him consistently collapse the pocket. He's more than just an awesome against the run. He has the speed to shoot gaps and strength to fight through double teams and get to the ball-carrier. He can let blockers get in on him sometimes, but he still gets off blocks well. The bottom line is he's just more athletic than a man his size should be and what has NFL scouts drooling is he knows how to maximize his physical gifts. His recent injury concerns have had some teams dropping him and that is a mistake. If Dorsey is there, he will be a Raven which leads to their next pick.
In the 2nd round, the Ravens select Brian Brohm. There is a chance that the Falcons take Brohm just ahead of Baltimore in Round 2, but I see the Falcons taking Ryan in the first. There will be several teams looking to get a QB in round 2, the Ravens just happen to pick before them all.
Conclusion:
In today’s NFL teams can rise and fall with regularity. The Ravens are definitely in a transition. They have a new regime in power and need a new Leader at QB. They need a player or 2 in almost every group on offense and defense whether it be from need or for depth. This storm period will take time to weather and need more than a season to make a return to the top level of teams in the AFC.
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State of the Team: Baltimore Ravens
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