Though the Baltimore Ravens were aggressive early in free agency and made a bunch of moves, they didn’t actually fill many of their roster needs thus far.
The Ravens pulled off a trade for Calais Campbell, traded away both Hayden Hurst and Chris Wormley, and signed Michael Brockers. While their defensive line is as stout as any period over the last five years, it’s far from everything Baltimore needed to do. Right now, the Ravens’ roster has plenty of holes that will need to be addressed.
But first is figuring out exactly where they need players and just how important each need is. I’ve gone through Baltimore’s roster to find out all of their remaining needs for this offseason. Whether the answers come through free agency or the 2020 NFL Draft will have to be seen but these are the seven biggest needs, in order, for the Ravens after the first wave of free agency.
Outside linebacker
Current roster: Matthew Judon, Tyus Bowser, Jaylon Ferguson, Aaron Adeoye, Mike Onuoha
While the Ravens had one of the best defenses in the league last season, there is little doubt they would have been better with more help at outside linebacker.
Baltimore used its franchise tag on Judon, which is a huge help to at least get back to how they were last season. But there is no guarantee he’s on this roster come Week 1. Judon could be traded or hold out just as easily as he could be signed to a long-term extension at this point. And even if the Ravens can lock Judon up to a contract extension, they desperately need to help him out and need productive depth behind him.
Bowser and Ferguson are currently on track to compete for the starting spot opposite Judon with no clear favorite right now. Both Bowser and Ferguson saw improvement over the final seven games of the season, getting most of their production there. However, even that uptick shouldn’t be enough to get Baltimore pumped about them in a three-down starting role. Behind them are two developmental prospects that spent time on the practice squad, so I wouldn’t go expecting much there.
In reality, Judon is their only known weapon at outside linebacker with everyone else a giant question mark at best. To get the most out of this defense, the Ravens need to find another player who can make a serious impact immediately. Beyond that, Baltimore could use another rotational player or two to help round out the group and give them some options during the season. Finding another veteran would also make sense for a group that has just eight years of actual NFL experience and 45 starts combined.
Inside linebacker
Current roster: L.J. Fort, Chris Board, Otaro Alaka
There’s a good case for inside linebacker actually being an even bigger need than outside linebacker. However, outside linebacker is far more important of a position in today’s NFL, which gives that the edge in this case. Still, at least the Ravens have Judon as a star player at outside linebacker while inside linebacker doesn’t even have a guaranteed starter.
Baltimore has three inside linebackers currently on their roster with L.J. Fort as the most experienced among them with 11 starts over seven seasons in the NFL (eight of those starts came last year for the Ravens). If Baltimore plans on using Fort as their starting weak-side linebacker, they’ll need a guaranteed starter at middle linebacker, which they just don’t have on their roster at all right now.
Even if all three of their linebackers were starter-quality players, the Ravens wouldn’t have enough depth to go into the regular season. But that’s not the case at all. Board was a part of the competition for a starting spot last season but not only didn’t he win it, he ended up only playing 64 defensive snaps over 15 games, which speaks volumes. Alaka has yet to play a single NFL game. All that means Baltimore can’t count on either Board or Alaka to be functional depth and need to find more help to at least create competition behind the starters.
Wide receiver
Current roster: Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin, Willie Snead IV, Jaleel Scott, De’Anthony Thomas, Antoine Wesley, Sean Modster
With seven players already on the roster, it’s easy to think the Ravens are pretty set at wide receiver. But only Brown, Boykin and Snead should be considered locks to make the 53-man roster. The rest are either practice squad players or, in the case of Thomas and Scott, will be competing to win one of the final roster spots.
Coach John Harbaugh has already said the team is looking for two types of wide receivers this offseason, so we know they likely plan on adding at least two more guys to the depth chart. Given how they’ve handled the position over the last three years, that likely means a deep speed option and a possession receiver to round out the unit.
The Ravens don’t necessarily need immediate starters here but they’ve also neglected the position until the last two years, so don’t be shocked if they aim for the fences either. With Lamar Jackson winning the MVP award last season and there being a desire to surround him with upper-tier talent, I’d expect at least one of the wide receivers to be a young and impressive target. Beyond that, the Ravens’ return specialist job is far from locked up. Finding a player or two who can compete for the job is undoubtedly on Baltimore’s radar as well.
Interior offensive line
Current roster: Bradley Bozeman, Matt Skura, Patrick Mekari, Ben Powers, R.J. Prince, Will Holden
Baltimore is actually pretty set at left guard and center if they simply go back to last year’s starters. There could be a bit of a competition at center between Skura and Mekari depending on the health of Skura entering the season but both players did well last year in the starting role, so I’d expect the loser to be the primary backup. Where the hole is at is right guard thanks to the retirement of Marshal Yanda.
It seems as though Powers will be given the first crack but the Ravens have usually wanted linemen to win the job in training camp. That means adding some talent to not only create solid depth along the inside but to create true competition for the starting right guard job.
Prince was on the practice squad last year and will be given a chance to win a roster spot but I wouldn’t think he has a real shot at a starting role quite yet. Though Holden has starting experience (seven games over two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals), that simply isn’t enough depth at guard.
The Ravens kept six interior offensive linemen at the end of last season and with six already on the roster now, I’d expect them to add at least two more to give them more competition for the 53-man roster. Given the loss of Yanda’s experience, at least one of their additions will likely be a free agent with some starting experience to help push the competition forward and give Baltimore a reliable option to fall back on if no one wins the starting right guard spot outright.
Tight end
Current roster: Mark Andrews, Nick Boyle, Charles Scarff
With the trade of Hayden Hurst, this suddenly becomes one of the Ravens’ needs. Baltimore uses tight ends like few other teams, often lining up in a two-tight end set to help block and give Jackson another option in the passing game without tipping their hand pre-snap on what type of play they’re going to run.
Like I noted immediately following Hurst’s trade, the Ravens have some flexibility here. Thanks to Boyle being an underrated option in the receiving game, Baltimore can find either a stout blocker to partially replace his role in the lineup or they can look for a good receiver and push Boyle back to being a blocker primarily. However, with both Boyle and Andrews only signed through the 2021 season and both likely being expensive to re-sign, the Ravens could be looking for some long-term options just as much as short-term.
The 2020 NFL Draft would probably be the best place to find a developmental prospect that can fill both the immediate need at a singular role with hopefully enough upside to become a starter in another year or two. But both the draft and free agency are seriously thin at tight end this year, so this is a need that might simply have to wait until next offseason to truly address.
Safety
Current roster: Earl Thomas, Chuck Clark, DeShon Elliott, Anthony Levine Sr., Jordan Richards
The Ravens have their starting lineup already figured out with Earl Thomas and Chuck Clark. But Baltimore doesn’t have much depth behind them.
Elliott, while he’s shown plenty of flashes, has yet to remain healthy. His rookie season ended on injured reserve before it ever began and 2019 wasn’t much better, ending after six games due to a knee injury. Though the Ravens should be high on him when healthy, he remains a question mark thanks to his injury history. Richards was brought back for next season but really seems to be a safety in name since he’s used as a special teams ace and only got one defensive snap for Baltimore over nine games last season.
At the very least, finding another versatile safety is needed to provide more depth. Better would be finding a true free safety and a true strong safety to be depth behind Thomas and Clark respectively. Luckily, the Ravens have plenty of experience already in the lineup, so they can find cheap help in the draft instead of spending valuable cap space on a free agent.
Cornerback
Current roster: Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, Tavon Young, Jimmy Smith, Iman Marshall, Anthony Averett, Terrell Bonds
Much like safety, cornerback has the starters already in place but very little experienced or functional depth behind them. Given the Ravens’ injury history at cornerback over the last decade, there is little doubt they’ll be adding more pieces to their secondary in the event someone goes down.
Marshall and Bonds have very little playing time and are more developmental options. Bonds was on the practice squad last season while Marshall spent more of the year on injured reserve, playing just four defensive snaps over three games. Though Averett has more playing time and starting experience, he struggled last season in the starting role for the injured Jimmy Smith before getting replaced when Baltimore added Peters via trade.
Since the Ravens carried six cornerbacks on their roster at the end of last season, I’d expect them to enter this season with at least the same number. With Young’s neck injury still being a question mark, jumping up to seven for more insurance shouldn’t be ruled out either. That means adding at least one more player to the depth chart.
With Baltimore bringing back Smith, they have their experienced depth option for this season. Though I still wouldn’t rule out Brandon Carr being re-signed later in free agency if they can get him on a cheap one-year deal. His versatility both inside, outside and at safety would really help the secondary.
Baltimore needs to restock its youth at the position primarily and will undoubtedly address that in the draft. While they don’t need an immediate starter, that hasn’t stopped the Ravens from grabbing a cornerback they love in the first round, so we can’t rule that idea out.
