Well, the football season is now officially over following the Patriot's Super Bowl 49 win over the Seahawks. As a football fan, that means one thing-on to the draft. In this year's draft, the Ravens hold the 26th overall pick in the first round. When looking at potential draft picks, the first thing to look for is potential needs. For the sake of argument I have identified three main positions of need this offseason.
1) Secondary
There is no doubt that the secondary was the biggest point of weakness for the Ravens this year with a season ending injury to their best secondary player Jimmy Smith, the down year from Lardarius Webb, lack of production from the safety position, and a carousel of no-name defensive backs filling in. The Ravens secondary could face even more change in the coming months. Will Hill, the sole semi-bright spot in the secondary facing an arrest warrant, and Webb potentially being cut due to his contract.
Potential Secondary Draft Picks:
Marcus Peters CB (Washington)
Trae Waynes CB (Michigan State)
Landon Collins S (Alabama)
2) Running Back
The need here is pretty straightforward. Obviously with the Ray Rice debacle behind them, the Ravens turned to Justin Forsett. Forsett, who is coming off of a career year, is an impending free agent who will likely have the chance to make more money outside of Baltimore.
Potential RB Draft Picks:
Melvin Gordon RB (Wisconsin)
Todd Gurley RB (Georgia)
3) Pass Rusher
Pass Rushers are players that every team needs. While the Ravens have two stud OLBs, they could use some help on the defensive line. Pernell McPhee is likely to get a large pay raise somewhere other than Baltimore, while veteran Chris Canty could chose to retire. With that, the Ravens could look to pick up a pass rusher if they see fit.
Potential Pass Rusher Picks:
Leonard Williams (USC)
Shane Ray(Missouri)
Dante Fowler, Jr. (Florida)
Other potential needs: WR, OL, TE
What I think will happen:
Too be honest, your guess is as good as mine. It seems like there is always a player that falls into reach of Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens, and he has repeatedly shown that he is willing to pick the best player available regardless of need. If I had to guess, I would predict that the Ravens will draft their highest rated player amongst defensive backs and running backs.
This has been a insightful post about the possible NFL draft picks, specifically the Ravens. I usually do not watch the drafts and keep up with college football. Although I keep up with the NFL season a lot. Therefore this post had your previous post has given me an insight of the 2015 NFL draft, although I am a giants fan so I hope we are able to get some good picks and possibly steal some from the Ravens.
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