Potential 2018 Draft Needs/Strategy

[Danand]

I think we could begin to talk about the draft and priorities. I didn’t go into coaching changes as they most likely wont happen. Listening to the Sarah Ellison podcast, I can see how Bisciotti doesn’t see the value in changing coaches too much, but at some point, something got to give when we face the same issues year after year. Also, if something doesn’t work, you make the changes till you find a solution – that’s also how you do it outside the NFL in the private sector.

 

I just took a quick look at what we could have on the roster next year. There wasn’t the amount of free agents I thought there would be, and the most notable where Wallace, Watson, West, Campanaro and Gillmore + Jensen and Hurst. Jensen so far earned a chance to prove he can improve after his first year as a starter. Hurst is in my scenario slated to be a backup.

Looking at our roster, healthy, it does look good especially on defense, where the mix of youth and veterans are quite balanced. We could need the roaming free safety, but otherwise it look good on paper – especially if Young, Canady and Hill can produce.

Offense on the other hand look bad. While Flacco deserves scrutiny, a complete overhaul around him could be necessary. While I’ve chosen to keep a lot of olines, I certainly think we could use an upgrade, which could be either outside or inside depending on the oline shuffle. Skura so far doesn’t  have enough playing time to warrant a spot.

There isn’t a runningback where we could not use an upgrade and I could see all of them leaving us next off season. The three kept tight ends could all also be upgraded and we really need to address the position in the draft as all 3 could end up as either suspended players for life/injured and retired. Maclin to me could be a Derrick Mason type of player who Flacco could develop a great relationship with, while Perriman most likely will be kept because he is a 1. Rounder. Chris Moore is still a really good special teamer, while White has some potential and I had to just keep something.

Basically, this opens for a draft strategy that look something like this:

1: Oline (Yanda is up there in age, Howard could easily be replaced)

2: Runningback – one of those who can do it all and still has some burst

3: Tight end

4: Rangy safety

5: Wide receiver (just to take a chance, although we can’t draft or develop them).

 

Offense:

QB: Joe Flacco, Ryan Mallett

RB: Alex Collins, Buck Allen, Danny Woodhead, Dixon

Oline: Stanley. Alex Lewis, Jensen (resigned), Yanda, Howard, Hurst, Siragusa, London

Tight end: Maxx Williams, Nick Boyle, Darren Waller

WR: Jeremy Maclin, Breshad Perriman, Chris Moore, Tim White

21

 

Defense:

Dline: Williams, Pierce, Davis, Urban (resigned), Henry, Wormley, Ricard, Kaufusi

OLB: Suggs, Smith, Judon, Bowser, Williams

ILB: Mosley, Onwuasor, Bradley, Correa

SS: Jefferson, Clark, Levine

FS: Weddle, Webb

CB: Smith, Carr, Humphrey, Young, Canady, Hill

26

 

ST: Cox, Tuck Tuck, Koch

3

 

Noticeable departures:

Mike Wallace (doesn’t produce according to salary)

Ben Watson (Old, hasn’t had the impact needed to keep him)

Michael Campanaro (really has to prove something to give us a reason to keep him)

Terrance West (never became the player I thought he could be coming out of Towson – guess the Browns destroyed him)

Crocket Gillmore (great talent, often injured)

[drd23]

Prior to the season started, I posted a list of needs over on the Mock Draft forum, and I haven't seen anything over the first six weeks of this season to suggest that our needs beyond this season have changed at all.   They also line up almost exactly with your list, with the addition of ILB which is still a question mark in my mind

On 8/17/2017 at 2:29 PM, drd23 said:

Ravens

Almost certainly to be a need:

RT - Austin Howard was signed as a stop-gap more than anything, and he's below average when he's healthy anyway.  

C - Will either be an unproven upcoming FA in Ryan Jensen or the horrible Jeremy Zuttah (who is rumoured to be re-signing after being cut by the 49ers).

RB - Basically, all the Ravens RBs are mediocre.

Likely to be / Possibly a need:

TE - Ravens have gone from an overly full position, to one of weakness.  Pitta retired, Crockett Gillmore sustained a season ending injury in the final year of his rookie contract and Darren Waller got suspended for the year.  Nick Boyle, the likely starter at this stage, is one screw up from a year suspension himself.  Then we have Maxx Williams, who is coming off a knee so nasty that the surgery he underwent had never been done on an NFL player before, and an old Ben Watson.  Mid round pick would not be unsurprising

ILB - At this stage, the contenders to line up next to CJ Mosley are a 2nd year OLB convert who didn't play in his rookie season or a former UDFA who also barely played.  If neither show any quality play this season, ILB could be a need. Would be a mid to late round pick if at all.

WR - Depends on the progression of Breshad Perriman mostly.  Maclin was signed for 2 years, so should be around in 2018. Mike Wallace is in the final year of his contract.

FS - Could do with a prospect to be the deep safety considering Lardarius Webb's age

I also think it might be a bit early to start plotting out the 53 man roster for next year

[Danand]

It's not too early with how we play this season  

While I believe, as I said in the Bears GDT, that this season will be a rollercoasterride, where we will be in the 7-9/9-7 range after good enough games to win and horrible games where our moods get way down, we have already seen the potential and the possibilities for improvement. Its an interesting discussion about how much we have to change to be an actual contender instead of being on the outside and looking in.

[drd23]

1 hour ago, Danand said:

Its an interesting discussion about how much we have to change to be an actual contender instead of being on the outside and looking in.

That conversation starts (and basically ends imo) with how you view Flacco and his ability to perform well over the next 2-4 years

[M.10.E]

Every position on offense is considered in the first three rounds. Not against taking a QB in round 3.

[Mancunian Raven]

All offense. Simple as that. Yes, they need a FS, but can muddle along with Weddle and Webb for another season. But they can't live with this disgustingly inept offense.

If a QB dropped to us in the 1st round, I wouldn't even rule it out. But ideally RB, RT and TE. I would say WR, but he'd end up being a bust anyway.

[Danand]

1 hour ago, drd23 said:

That conversation starts (and basically ends imo) with how you view Flacco and his ability to perform well over the next 2-4 years

Yeah, I still don't think I agree. This year in particular, we have seen how many QB's can perform when their support cast is less than desirable. So far, it seems Rodgers and Brady are the only ones, and even Brady received some criticism. Of all the QB's in the NFL, I don't think Flacco is so much worse than the rest - and the reason we are so down is because of a bad start to the season, which comes after he missed the entire training camp with an injury and the performance from oline, runningbacks and wide receivers has been up and down.

Look at Winston in Tampa, Big Ben aka. maybe I just don't have it anymore, Eli, Rivers, Dalton etc. they are all also critized heavily - that Oakland Raiders wonderboy should be critized more than Flacco honestly.

For what its worth, unless Flacco runs out of excuses, I think we will rely on him for 2-3 years going forward. 

In general, do we want to bet the house on an Andrew Luck scenario, or go the Broncos route, where you can win a super bowl with the noodle arm version of Manning? I actually prefer the latter.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

IMO why wouldn't WR be higher? Certainly it's higher than any defensive position we have.

[Danand]

25 minutes ago, Darth Pees said:

IMO why wouldn't WR be higher? Certainly it's higher than any defensive position we have.

While the "our FO can't hit on WR" argument is somewhat valid, it shouldn't prohibit us for keep on trying. But I think there is an argument to be made about, how Flacco seems to respond better to the veteran guys. The Derrick Mason, Steve Smith, Anquan Boldin, Todd Heap, Dennis Pitta seems as better fits, and to me, it could be a Jarvis Landry, Allen Robinson type of player rather than drafting a new guy and hope he develops.

[coordinator0]

This is the way I see it, no real order of importance for need quite yet:

QB - Flacco isn't good. Neither is what he has around him, but on instances where it's specifically him trying to make a play he's just not. I don't think much will be invested here but a new backup will be brought in with Mallet also being terrible and a free agent. Or not, Harbaugh likes to surround himself with terrible so who knows.

RB - Okay, I like Allen. I like Collins when he isn't fumbling. I like Dixon coming off an injury and suspension. But you can't rely on any of those guys and they all scream complimentary back to me. Get that bona fide #1 runner. Doesn't have to be at the top of the draft, just somewhere in the first four rounds. Someone who can run the ball 15+ times a game with some juice in his legs. And isn't a huge liability to fumble.

WR - Obvious need is obvious. Maclin will probably be kept but Wallace is almost assuredly not being re-signed. Perriman is in danger of getting the boot. Campanaro is just kind of there as a receiver, he's not involved enough. Chris Moore has had some bright spots but you can't have him as anything more than the 4th receiver in a competent offense at this point in his career. 

OL - Well, kind of. This is where health factors in the most. Stanley, Lewis, Jensen (assuming he's re-signed), and Yanda are all at least solid. Howard has been but he's pretty underwhelming as a starter so a replacement for him is on the docket. But Siragusa is coming back and he could push Lewis to left tackle, or Eluemunor could continue to develop this season and get pushed out to right tackle when Yanda comes back. Disregarding Austin that's 6 guys I'm at least optimistic for. I think an offensive lineman needs to be added, just not sure where at this point.

FS - Jefferson is not a SS that can play in space. Weddle is not a FS that can be relied on with rangy responsibilities. Webb is not a full-time option at safety going forward. Levine is kind of a mix between Jefferson and Webb, but one that you don't want back in a deeper zone. All that adds up to needing (and utilizing) a real rangy free safety. 

That's about it for me right now. Another off-ball linebacker could be on that list, but Onwuasor is improving and Correa has some use (still think it's a shame the team immediately started grooming him for ILB instead of where he should have been on the edge). But yeah, all offense all the time. Except fullback. Get an offense that doesn't rely on one being in the game regardless of his role. 

[drd23]

7 hours ago, Darth Pees said:

IMO why wouldn't WR be higher? Certainly it's higher than any defensive position we have.

1. This FO clearly can't evaluate WRs
2. The coaching staff clearly wants to run an old school offense
3. You can't draft for all the needs highly all at once

IMO we should either draft a WR in the first round (to reduce the chance of the FO picking another inefficient player) or not at all

[Danand]

Tanking is ON! Lets get peoples preferable picks for next year. We need some talent infusion.

[Rein]

BPA - no restrictions!

(preferably resulting in an infusion of speed and/or playmaking ability)

[Mancunian Raven]

1 hour ago, Rein said:

BPA - no restrictions!

(preferably resulting in an infusion of speed and/or playmaking ability)

What if the BPA is a defensive lineman?

I'm quite happy now for the Ravens to reach with offensive players. They simply cannot exist in the modern NFL with players the calibre of Chris Moore, Campanaro, Perriman and Buck Allen starting.

Just watching the Cowboys demolish the 49ers, and it's incredible what a difference a dominant running back does. Both when he has the ball, and when they run play action. The defense bites every time. If the Ravens want a dominant defense, they need to be able to beat teams running the ball.

[Rein]

9 hours ago, Mancunian Raven said:

What if the BPA is a defensive lineman?

I'm quite happy now for the Ravens to reach with offensive players. They simply cannot exist in the modern NFL with players the calibre of Chris Moore, Campanaro, Perriman and Buck Allen starting.

Just watching the Cowboys demolish the 49ers, and it's incredible what a difference a dominant running back does. Both when he has the ball, and when they run play action. The defense bites every time. If the Ravens want a dominant defense, they need to be able to beat teams running the ball.

If it’sA an elite pass rusher or run defender I can’t see how we can afford to say no - the last couple of games shows us we obviously need both (and/or a new DC to some degree)