With one of the busiest free agency periods in recent National Football League history occurring, the Baltimore Ravens have been very quiet. The Ravens finished the 2017 season with a 9-7 record and the organization has been declining since their 2014 season where they lost in the AFC Championship to the New England Patriots. The aim for them now is to halt the slide and become one of the most feared teams in the NFL once again.
An ageing team needs to be re-tooled
The Ravens are in the top 10 teams with the oldest average player age although they have addressed this so far by releasing Danny Woodhead and Jeremy Maclin. The Ravens also lost Mike Wallace to free agency but brought in speedy wide receiver John Brown and the veteran Michael Crabtree to replace the afore mentioned players. Both should help quarterback Joe Flacco who himself, came off a very disappointing season. The offense was clearly the weak point for the Ravens who failed to produce either a 1000-yard receiver or 1000-yard running back. They will look to fix that this offseason.
Baltimore’s running game may be the one area in their offense that they do not have to re-tool. The Ravens have great depth which includes the underrated Terrence West, back up Javorius Allen and break out star Alex Collins, who should only improve since starting in 2017. It is the passing game which needs to see the biggest improvement.
The Ravens seem to want to bet on Flacco once again
Fan favourite Joe Flacco is coming to the end of his career so it was a surprise to see the Ravens not bid on some of the quarterbacks available in free agency. One can only think they will be targeting a future franchise QB in this year's draft, who can sit behind and learn from Flacco. So far, most mock drafts have the Ravens taking a tight end or bolstering their defensive front seven. This could mean that they look to rely on Flacco to bounce back this season and perform as well as he has in the past.
The one thing that could derail those plans to wait on Flacco to rediscover his form is if the Ravens defense falters. The current defensive roster is solid and third to sixth round picks should be able to add good depth. If that remains the case, the Ravens should focus on picking a QB with their first pick, in what experts call one of the strongest quarterback classes for some time. Either Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson could be available by the time the Ravens are on the clock and either player would be an amazing pick. With the second pick, the Ravens could then bring in a strong tight end like Hayden Hurst or some offensive line depth.
Overall the Ravens need some younger faster offensive players to help bolster their squad to make a playoff push in 2018. With some strong free agents left, we can only wait and see what Baltimore has in store.