Baltimore Ravens smartly shift to offense as defensive era ends

The Baltimore Ravens made a shrewd maneuver, shifting their focus to offense as the defense dismantled itself. Drafting defense is smart, but this offseason is about the offense.

Even before the new NFL business year kicked in, the Baltimore Ravens were busy at work. They traded away former Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco, officially handing the team over to Lamar Jackson.

They cut running back Alex Collins after he was arrested, as well as wide receiver Michael Crabtree. They also released former Pro Bowler Eric Weddle. The purge did not end their, leaving the Baltimore defense looking empty.

The Ravens could not avoid the turnover, but they smartly avoided a reactionary move. Baltimore must focus on the offense and let the defense reset. The draft is defense heavy and the free agent class has talent for Lamar Jackson to work with.

Todd Salem:

While Flacco, Crabtree, and Weddle especially are big names, they will not be hard to replace. Flacco had already been replaced, Crabtree was a shell of his former self last year, and safety is incredibly deep this year in free agency. Even as Weddle was immediately scooped up by another franchise, the Ravens should be able to add a long-term piece to their secondary this spring.

But more so than star players being moved out of town, Baltimore will also be adjusting to the retirement of general manager Ozzie Newsome. Newsome stepped away at the end of the 2018 season. No GM masters the draft. It is impossible. But he at least picked up the reputation as being a good judge of talent. The Ravens will have to hope Eric DeCosta is in that same vein.

The team doesn’t have its second-round pick thanks to the Jackson trade a year ago, but there are many key areas that must be addressed for this squad.

The offense is a mess even beyond Jackson and his inexperience. The cupboard is bare at the skill positions. Is Gus Edwards really the answer as an every-down running back? If not, Baltimore will need to replace outgoing free agents Ty Montgomery and Buck Allen on the depth chart, along with the jettisoned Collins.

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Wide receiver is in even worse shape, and it wasn’t a strong unit last year. Willie Snead is the leading returning receiver at 62 catches and one touchdown.

After him, thanks to John Brown‘s departure, the next leading receiver is Mark Andrews, he of 34 catches out of the tight end position. Things are scary ugly, and that’s for a roster that seems to be perpetually lacking offensive weapons. DeCosta has his work cut out for him on this side of the ball.

That would be bad enough if Baltimore’s superb defense was set to return in full force. But it is not. All of stud C.J. Mosley, the legend Terrell Suggs, and the underrated Za’Darius Smith are gone from the front seven. Add in needing to replace Weddle on the back end, and the Ravens will look vastly different here next season as well.

The Ravens are in the top 10 in terms of expected cap space, but even with money and holes to fill, it is no guarantee they can find enough pieces in one offseason. For a team that won its division last season, it feels like it fell into an abrupt rebuild.

To avoid such a fall, we need to see a number of things happen. Mosely and Suggs are not easily replaced, but a new safety must be brought in, as well as another pass rusher. Then, there needs to be running back help and as many as two or three NFL-caliber wide receivers.

Right now, the team has just one. Like I said, there is money to make these things happen, but it feels like a lot to ask in one offseason. Jackson’s second season at quarterback could easily turn into the prototypical first year for a highly drafted quarterback, and that isn’t a good thing.

Dan Salem:

I’m a little stumped as to how the Baltimore Ravens get significantly better this offseason, let alone stop the bleeding. The saving grace is that their division is no longer very competitive. Cleveland might be the strongest team on paper, with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati shedding talent. None of this helps the Ravens, who need to give Jackson some weapons to work with. Fail to do so and he won’t be long for the football field.

Protecting Jackson with a viable safety net is critical to his development. Running back might be the most important area of need, since a strong running game will protect an inexperienced quarterback. Jackson has yet to fully develop his passing game, so it will be run first for Baltimore. There are several good options left in free agency not named Le’Veon Bell, so the Ravens would be wise to pay up.

Another reason to build up the offense around Jackson is that there is no saving the Baltimore defense this season. It’s in complete rebuild mode with the departures of Suggs, Mosely, Weddle and Smith. That is every defensive leader from last season and a lot of Pro Bowls.

Suggs hurts the most because of his veteran leadership and longtime tenure with the team. If Baltimore can trade up into the top 10 of the draft, then perhaps they are able to replace one of their star defenders with a stud rookie. The issue is trade capital, because the Ravens need to draft as many players as possible. They have a lot of holes to fill.

Baltimore is heading towards a rebuild this season, but its unclear how the move will hurt them in the wins column. This team has been stuck at 9-7 on the playoff bubble for several years, finally grabbing the extra victory to win the division last season. Yet that speaks more to the AFC North, because the Ravens were not measurably better than in previous years overall. They can still compete in their division while rebuilding. Its Jackson or bust.