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The NFL Draft Countdown is where we take a closer look at an NFL franchise to see what its transactions have been and what its needs are.
Franchise
- Draft Position: 25
- 2009 Season Result: 9-7 (2nd in AFC North; Lost in Divisional Round)
- 2009 Head Coach: John Harbaugh
- 2010 Head Coach: John Harbaugh (20-12; 3-2)
Key Transactions
- WR Anquan Boldin (from ARI)
- DE Cory Redding (from SEA)
Draft Picks
- 1-25
- 2-25
- 5-25
- 5-26
- 6-25
Analysis & Outlook
The acquisition of WR Anquan Boldin gives QB Joe Flacco a great weapon, but to keep the pressure off Boldin, the Ravens will look to re-sign WR Derrick Mason. They also signed Donte’ Stallworth who’ll serve as a deep threat…if he can stay out of trouble. Ideally, the Ravens would also like to retain RB Le’Ron McClain on offense and CB Fabian Washington on defense.
The Ravens are a tough team but I see many weaknesses on both sides of the ball. On offense, they will look for a TE after letting L.J. Smith go into free agency and having inconsistent performances from Todd Heap in the last few years.
On defense, it’s worse. The Ravens defense is in need of some overhaul with key players like DE Trevor Pryce, LB Ray Lewis and S Ed Reed aging or—in Reed’s case—close to retirement. It would be wise to have young players in now so they can learn from these guys. On the outside, I don’t think the Domonique Foxworth signing was very successful and they’ll look for help in the draft. The only problem is that because of the Anquan Boldin trade, the Ravens don’t have that many picks in this year’s draft.
In the first round, they’ll target TEs Jermaine Gresham and Rob Gronkowski, CBs Kyle Wilson, Devin McCourty and Patrick Robinson, and potentially DE Carlos Dunlap. In the second round, they have options, going with a D-Lineman like Tyson Alualu or with LBs like Brandon Spikes or Navorro Bowman. They’ll round out their draft with LBs, CBs and WRs.
This is going to be a testing year for the Ravens. Their defense needs to hold up in a division where the Bengals and the Steelers seem to have become stronger through the air. Their offense must also evolve to take the pressure off RB Ray Rice.