Baltimore Ravens: 2017 NFL Draft Preview

Corey Davis

Simply put the offense and defense needs more playmakers. I’m thinking Dalvin Cook if he wants a rusher, Corey Davis if he wants a receiver and Haason Reddick if he wants a linebacker.

The Ravens are not that far off from contending for another Super Bowl run. They have an excellent coach (John Harbaugh), a proven QB (Joe Flacco) and a top-10 defense. And most importantly they have a very good G.M. (Ozzie Newsome) whose talents are going to be needed now more than ever.

Key additions

CB Brandon Carr
RB Danny Woodhead
SS Tony Jefferson

Key subtractions

C Jeremy Zuttah
CB Jerraud Powers
CB Shareece Wright
DE Lawrence Guy
DT Tim Jernigan
FB Kyle Juszczyk
OG Vlad Ducasse
OT Ricky Wagner
ILB Zach Orr
OLB Elvis Dumervil
WR Kamar Aiken
WR Steve Smith Sr.

Priority needs (Offense)

FB…Kyle Juszczyk registered 78 receptions the past two seasons and was a great fit with this offense. He’ll be missed. The top fullback options (Sam Rogers/Freddie Stevenson) should be available in the fourth or fifth-round.

OL…Losing Ricky Wagner to free agency was a hard blow to take and now Newsome must find a few linemen this week to compensate. Alex Lewis has the ability to play inside and out which will give Newsome more options to choose from. What he does need to find though is a future pivot to replace Jeremy Zuttah. John Urschel might get the shot be default, but he might have more value working at NASA these days. Don’t be surprised if Nick Mangold gets a call if Newsome can’t find his man. Ethan Pocic and Pat Elflein are the top players to keep an eye on in the second and third-round.

RB…There was a great deal of hope that Kenneth Dixon would be their starter last season, but after an injury sidelined him early last season he’ll now miss the first four games this season due to a suspension. The Ravens are going to have to wait once again to see what they have with him. There are only moderate talents in this group left over and Newsome needs to find someone special.

WR…With Steve Smith Sr. (retired) and Kamar Aiken (free agent) gone this position is as important as any for the Ravens to address starting tonight. Since they didn’t have enough cap room to explore a player in free agency, Newsome will look to land one as early as round-one.

Priority needs (Defense)

DB…The Ravens secondary is just fine as-is. But with four key contributors including Eric Weddle and Brandon Carr in their early 30s, adding additional depth could be an option as early as this year.

LB…This is another top position of need with Terrell Suggs turning 35 this season, Elvis Dumervil getting released and leading tackler Zach Orr retiring due to a spinal injury. Newsome needs more talent here both inside and out and it’s about time he finds himself their next premier pass rusher. If he gets lucky the possibility does exist for Reuben Foster to drop (after the NFL Combine incident) and if he doesn’t, he can still land a good player at 16 by taking either Haason Reddick, Takkarist McKinley or J.J. Watt.

Final analysis

Thanks to a bad cap situation Ozzie Newsome must find players to contribute from this draft if the team is going to have a legitimate chance of returning to the Super Bowl. Simply put the offense and defense needs more playmakers. I’m thinking Dalvin Cook if he wants a rusher, Corey Davis if he wants a receiver and Haason Reddick if he wants a linebacker.

Top first-round options

ILB Reuben Foster
OLB Takkarist McKinley
OLB Haason Reddick
OLB TJ Watt
RB Dalvin Cook
RB Christian McCaffrey
WR Corey Davis
WR Mike Williams

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