Now that the NFL draft is in rearview mirror and the draft grades are being doled out, it’s a good time to look at what work DeCosta and company have left to do before the start of the 2022 season.
Overall, free agency and the draft was about as good as one could expect.
Free agency brought the top safety on the market, Marcus Williams, to Baltimore. The Ravens also filled holes at offensive line by signing tackle Morgan Moses and at defensive line with former Raven Michael Pierce returning to the nest. The one setback was being left at the altar, so to speak, by another former Raven, edge rusher Za’Darius Smith.
When the dust settled on draft weekend, the Ravens received high marks for their haul. Big time prospects seemed to fall into the Ravens’ lap. Despite not realistically knowing the true quality of this draft for another 3-5 years, the immediate response has been nothing but praise. (I won’t go into pick by pick detail, as our staff has done a thorough job of this already)
Now that the 2022 NFL draft has concluded, the Ravens have 2 major roster holes to fill; edge rusher and wide receiver.
Eric DeCosta did use his 2nd round pick on Michigan edge rusher David Ojabo. An excellent value pick, as many evaluators had him as a top half of the 1st round talent. As we all know, an Achilles tendon injury during pre-draft workouts resulted in Ojabo’s stock falling. The Ravens swooped in and selected Ojabo at pick 45; a steal but the uncertain health status looms. Team doctors believe (or hope) that Ojabo could be on the field in October/November but 2022 could easily end up as a redshirt year for Ojabo. Time will tell.
If we assume the worst and Ojabo cannot suit up this year, the Ravens currently have Odafe Oweh, Tyus Bowser and Jaylon Ferguson at the edge; with honorable mention to 2nd year man Daelin Hayes. In that group we have, hopefully, an emerging star in Oweh; a proven talent in Bowser but he’s also coming off an Achilles tear; a disappointing 2019 draft pick in Ferguson, whose roster spot would be tenuous if we weren’t so thin at the position; and an unknown commodity in Hayes.
The most likely scenario to shore up the position group is bring back veteran Justin Houston. While a returning Houston would not be a flashy move, he’s a solid veteran and will come cheap. News broke last night that the Ravens applied the rarely used unrestricted free agent tender on Houston. If Houston does not sign anywhere, the Ravens retain exclusive negotiating rights with him and he would be back at 110% of his 2021 salary, which would be $1,182,500.
Bottom line at edge, the Ravens need some good karma from the injury gods; of which they should have plenty in the bank after 2021.One of the bigger surprises of draft weekend was the trade of Ravens top wide receiver Hollywood Brown to the Arizona Cardinals. The front office got great value for Brown, the 23rd pick in this year’s draft, which, after a subsequent trade back to pick 25. They then selected center Tyler Lindebaum. The Iowa product should be ready to start immediately and has Pro Bowl potetntial. With that said, the Hollywood saga has left me scratching my head a bit.
Shortly after the trade was consummated on Thursday night, reports surfaced that Brown had requested a trade at season’s end and the Ravens-Cardinals deal had been agreed to about a month ago and it was to be kept hush-hush.
Herein lies the dilemma; if DeCosta knew he was moving his top wide receiver starting back in January, why has there not been any supplementation of the receiving corps? The first wave of free agency came and went with no action at wideout. Then, the Ravens made 11 draft picks, one of which was a punter, and no wide receivers were selected.
In all fairness, we can’t be certain of what attempts the front office made to add a wide receiver but at the end of the day, no significant additions were made despite the huge subtraction at the position.
The front office did load up on undrafted free agent wide receivers. The Ravens have added 4 UDFA receivers; Slade Bolden from Alabama, Trevor Clark from Cal, Emeka Emezie from NC State and Makai Polk from Mississippi St. I’m not going to pretend to know much of anything about these guys, outside of a few blurbs. Clark and Emezie are big, 6’4″ and 6’3″, respectively. Polk had an impressive 105 catches in 13 games last year. Bolden was a solid slot receiver at Alabama. Unless these guys have standout performances during OTAs and camp or prove to be big time special teams contributors, I have my doubts that any of them stick on the 53 man roster.
If Baltimore looks to the free agent market to fill the void at wide receiver, there are some solid veterans available. Names like Jarvis Landry, Odell Beckham Jr and TY Hilton are the headliners. Other names that are likely past their prime but could still contribute are Julio Jones and Emmanuel Sanders. The biggest hurdle to bringing in a bigger name free agent is salary cap space. Per Overthecap.com Baltimore has $7.142 million in cap space. After getting draft picks signed, space is going to be tight, so barring any restructures, the team would have to be really creative to get a deal done of any significance.
Perhaps the Ravens could go outside the box and bring in veteran DeSean Jackson. Even at age 35, he averaged over 22 yards per reception last year, which could be a sneaky (and affordable) way to replace Hollywood’s deep ball production.
All in all, the Ravens are in good shape heading towards OTAs. The offensive and defensive lines have been restocked, The tight end group looks deep again, headlined by All World Mark Andrews. The secondary is shaping up to be the best in the league with returning All Pro’s Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters, to go with new acquisitions at safety. The cherry on top, is a healthy, highly motivated Lamar Jackson under center.
No roster is ever perfect, but the Ravens are certainly primed for a bounceback season in 2022.
Jamie has been a Baltimore sports fan since he can remember. He grew up in Gwynn Oak and currently resides in Hampstead with his wife and 2 kids. He graduated from UMBC with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He’s currently employed at Verizon Communications in Hunt Valley.