In advance of March 9, the start of free agency in the NFL, Pro Football Rumors will detail each team’s three most glaring roster issues. We’ll continue this year’s series with the Baltimore Ravens, who have now missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the John Harbaugh era. Despite calls for their dismissal, Harbaugh and his top assistants will be back in 2017 in what will likely be a do-or-die year for them. There is enough of a foundation for the club to make a playoff push in 2017, but they will need to have a strong offseason in order to return to the postseason.
As such, the team has been forced to rely on acquiring veteran possession receivers on the downside of their careers. Steve Smith, Anquan Boldin, and Derrick Mason all enjoyed some success with the Ravens, and now that Smith has retired and Kamar Aiken appears to be on his way out, Baltimore will likely need to turn to free agency yet again. The market for veteran wideouts is fairly underwhelming, as the Ravens will likely not be in play for the biggest fish in the free agent pool, Alshon Jeffery. Jeffery will probably get a Green-esque contract, and the Ravens simply cannot afford to spend that much (nor is it their practice to make such a splash in free agency).
Unfortunately for the Ravens, who hold the No. 16 overall selection in the 2017 draft, this year’s rookie class of wide receivers is lacking in top-end talent. Clemson’s Mike Williams, the consensus No. 1 wide receiver in the class, has a nice combination of size and speed but could be off the board by the time the Ravens are on the clock. Western Michigan’s Corey Davis or USC’s JuJu Smith-Schuster should still be available, with Davis looking like the better all-around prospect (Smith-Schuster projects as a possession receiver at the next level).
Of course, the Ravens have several other glaring needs, and they may not be able to take a wideout with their first-round pick. If they choose to hold off, Mississippi’s Damore’ea Stringfellow or Louisiana Tech’s Carlos Henderson could be fits. In an ideal world, the Ravens would be able to land a player like Garcon in free agency and add a receiver prospect on the second day of the draft.
Further complicating matters on the offensive side of the ball is the potential departure of right tackle Ricky Wagner, who is eligible for unrestricted free agency. The Ravens’ O-line was a bit of a mess in 2016, but Wagner and stalwart Marshal Yanda generally held up their end of the bargain. If Wagner were to seek his fortune elsewhere, that would make the team’s need for a playmaking wide receiver or two even greater, but it could also force Baltimore to select a top tackle prospect in the first round for the second consecutive year. If so, Alabama’s Cam Robinson would be an obvious choice.
2) Beef Up The Pass Rush: The Ravens’ pass rush, once the most fearsome part of the roster, suffered another down year in 2016, as the team finished 24th in the league with 31 sacks, and 11 of those came from interior defensive linemen or the blitzing secondary. Terrell Suggs played through injury for much of the year, and while he was able to manage eight sacks, he is clearly nearing the end of the line and is not as productive either as a run-stuffer or pass rusher as he used to be (though he is still more than adequate in both regards).
Meanwhile, Elvis Dumervil’s 2016 was almost completely wiped out by injury, and it is widely-expected that he will be a cap casualty this offseason. That leaves young players like Matt Judon and Kamalei Correa to take up the mantle, and while Judon, a fifth-round choice last year, played well in spurts, Correa, the Ravens’ second-round choice in 2016, was even more raw than the team anticipated and barely played outside of special teams. Both have the athleticism and upside to become, at the very least, effective situational pass rushers, but the Ravens cannot necessarily rely on a ton of production from either of them in 2017. Further complicating matters is the fact that Za’Darius Smith, a fourth-round choice in the 2015 draft, has not developed as hoped.
Therefore, just as with the wide receiver position, the Ravens will likely need to turn to free agency and/or the draft to address their flagging pass rush. Ravens fans might dream about a player like Chandler Jones or Melvin Ingram, but even if they are not re-signed by their current clubs, it is unlikely Baltimore will be able to afford them. But while the Packers’ Nick Perry or Datone Jones are not quite as exciting, they might still offer a quality complement to Suggs and the team’s youthful core, and even aging vets like DeMarcus Ware or Dwight Freeney could be useful pieces at a fairly low cost. If the Eagles release or trade Connor Barwin, Baltimore would be a perfect fit for his services.
Luckily for the Ravens, the 2017 draft holds some quality pass rushing talent. Missouri’s Charles Harris, Alabama’s Tim Williams, Kansas State’s Jordan Willis, and UCLA’s Takkarist McKinley would all be intriguing fits in Baltimore’s defensive front.
Defensive coordinator Dean Pees rightly faced a great deal of criticism during his first few years in Baltimore, but, to his credit, he did make some important adjustments to his play-calling in 2016, and the defense improved as a result. Nonetheless, Pees’ unit did suffer several late-game collapses that ultimately cost the team a chance at the AFC North title, and despite his improvements, he was still frequently out-coached by opposing offensive coordinators. But he is returning in 2017, so it will be especially critical for the Ravens to continue to load the defense with as much as talent as possible, and to continue injecting the unit with youth and athleticism, a trend they began in earnest last year with the selections of Correa, Judon, and fourth-round revelation Tavon Young.
The team may also need to address the interior of the defensive line, as DT Brandon Williams is primed for a major payday and Baltimore may be forced to let him walk. Baltimore, as is their custom, does have several intriguing young options that could replace Williams, but they will likely need to add at least one veteran to stabilize the rotation.
3) Address The Secondary: Yet again, the Ravens will need to address their secondary if they want to return to contention in 2017. Top corner Jimmy Smith played well in 2016, but his season was knocked off course by injury for the second time in three years. In 2014, he was playing well before he suffered a foot injury that took him out of action halfway through the season, and in 2015 he was clearly not the same player. He largely returned to form in 2016 but played in only 11 games, and the defense suffered when he was not available.
Still, given their financial commitment to him, Baltimore will need to rely on Smith playing a full and healthy season in 2017, and will need to build around him. Eric Weddle excelled at the safety spot in his first year in Baltimore, but the Ravens lacked a true No. 2 corner opposite Smith. Shareece Wright, after signing a three-year deal last offseason, was unreliable, and although Young was terrific in his rookie season, he is better-suited as a slot corner. Beyond those three players, at least two of whom have major question marks, the Ravens have virtually no experience at cornerback.
Baltimore made a surprising splash acquisition when they inked Weddle last year, but it is unlikely they will make a similar signing in 2017, which means that they will not be in the market for players like A.J. Bouye, Trumaine Johnson, or Stephon Gilmore. However, they could theoretically take a flyer on a veteran like Sam Shields or Tramon Williams, and depending on how Prince Amukamara’s market plays out, he might not be out of the team’s price range. Nolan Carroll or old friend Will Davis are also options, and the team would probably do well to sign multiple players to provide some much-needed depth.
Although Lardarius Webb played reasonably well in his first season at safety, his injury history, age, and cap number make him a realistic candidate to be released. The Ravens could save $5.5MM by cutting him, but if they did so, they would need to sign or draft an adequate replacement. The team has been connected to Tony Jefferson, and he would make a solid complement to Weddle on the back end of the team’s defense.
The Ravens have also been connected to defensive backs in various mock drafts, and there are a number of prospects at both cornerback and safety that could be fits for Baltimore. Although elite prospects like Jamal Adams, Malik Hooker, and Marshon Lattimore may not be available to the Ravens, the coverage skills offered by cornerbacks like LSU’s Tre’Davious White and Florida’s Teez Tabor would be welcome in Baltimore. If Adams or Hooker do not fall to the Ravens in the first round, Baltimore will likely need to wait until Day 2 or 3 to pick up a safety prospect. If they do, Washington’s Budda Baker or NC State’s Josh Jones could be fits. Day 2 cornerback prospects include the likes of Iowa’s Desmond King and Michigan’s Jourdan Lewis.
Another Michigan prospect, Jabrill Peppers, is one of the most difficult players to project, though the dynamic defensive play-maker has been mocked to the Ravens on several occasions. The problem is that Peppers, a Heisman Trophy finalist, is viewed as more of a hybrid safety/linebacker in the mold of Arizona’s Deone Bucannon, and while Pees did attempt to utilize such a role in 2016 with players like Anthony Levine and Patrick Onwuasor, it is unclear whether he has enough creativity to get the most out of Peppers’ skill-set. Plus, Peppers probably does not have enough size to adequately replace the recently-retired Zachary Orr, so the Ravens would still need to invest more assets into the position even if they selected Peppers.
