After seven straight seasons of .500 or better records, the Baltimore Ravens are in a position heading into this offseason they’re unfamiliar with. Coach John Harbaugh has never had a losing record as a head coach in the NFL and there is lingering disappointment surrounding the team, based on the way the season took shape. After losing leaders like Joe Flacco, Terrell Suggs, and Steve Smith to injury, it was clear it would be hard to recover. By season’s end, it seemed the entire team had some sort of plaguing injury and the roster consisted of mostly practice squad players and street free agents.

Whether this season’s unfortunate injury situation was simply bad luck, or a sign of tides turning for the Ravens overall as their star players grow older remains to be seen. That’s why this offseason will be so important for the Ravens, who’ve obviously not drafted inside the top-10 in quite a while, as they try to increase their depth and restock their talent base. The Ravens enter this offseason with no coaching or general manager controversies to worry about, at least not legitimate ones. Their only front office concern, which is likely small, would be the fear that Eric DeCosta finally accepts a job as a general manager elsewhere. Under Ozzie Newsome’s guidance, the Ravens will head into the free agent and draft period with an approach that has led them to sustained success for nearly 10 seasons. That approach will involve identifying trends league wide, and figure out how to capitalize off of them. Below is a look at what Steve Bisciotti and the Ravens front office might look to do this offseason.

Focus on their Strengths

Baltimore will have little cap space to work with this offseason, and will have to do some salary cap gymnastics in order to make their situation less bleak. With that being the case, it would suit them best to, rather than identify the weaknesses of their roster, address the strengths of their roster, and try to capitalize off of them. For instance, the Ravens offensive line is still one of the better units in the NFL, especially in pass protection. Their adjusted sack rate, which tracks sacks plus intentional grounding penalties per pass attempt and is adjusted for down, distance, and opponent– according to Football Outsiders— ranked 2nd in the league in 2015. They had much less success running blocking this season, but still finished in the top-15 in adjusted line yards, which quantifies the responsibility of the offensive line on each rushing attempt. With Marc Trestman in place as the offensive coordinator, the passing game is likely to continue to be a huge part of the Ravens game plan. If their offensive line continues to play at such a high level, this offseason, they should focus on using what little resources they have to improve the playmaking ability of their offense.

After a breakout season from Kamar Aiken, and Breshad Perriman and Steve Smith returning from injury next season, the Ravens receiving corps hopefully can return to form. Which is why it is more likely Newsome and his staff address the running game this year. With Forsett entering his age 31 season, coming off of an injury, it’s possible the team could elect to move forward with Buck Allen as their primary RB, though his rookie season was far from stellar. If they can somehow find a way to create enough cap space to sign Lamar Miller, he’s a player that could give them some upside out of the backfield. That would take a lot of maneuvering on their part, and the sacrifices might ultimately be too grand. Some less impeding options, would to try to rejuvenate players like Alfred Morris, or Bilal Powell. Players of their caliber can be had for much cheaper and there’s always the chance that given the chance and change of scenery, they could excel. With 6 picks in this year’s draft, it’s also certainly possible the Ravens could look for a gem at the running back position in the later rounds.

Try to Preserve Special Teams Success

Often times, when a team is in a murky cap situation, like the Ravens are, it’s usually the special teams unit that suffers. The reason being, teams need to cut players to give themselves more cap space and usually those players are special teams players, because their contracts are small, with little to no consequences if released. Unfortunately, if this were to happen to the Ravens, it would take away from one of the bright spots of their team the last two seasons. The Ravens finished 2nd in Special Teams DVOA in 2014, and 1st in 2015. This is a unit that not only needs to be preserved, but also can be improved. Each offseason, teams bring in new special teams players, and some, over time, develop to be really effective. The Ravens have been atop the list, when it comes to developing and signing good special teams players, and hopefully that continues in 2015.

Continue to Draft Well

From 2011-15, you could argue the Ravens have drafted better than any other franchise in the NFL. Homegrown talents like Courtney Upshaw, C.J. Mosley, Jimmy Smith, Kelechi Osemele and Timmy Jernigan have all become better players under John Harbaugh’s tutelage. With the 6th pick overall in the 2016 NFL Draft, they have the chance to select a future star, and with their track record, it’s hard to imagine they’ll miss on that opportunity. Their draft success has not stopped in just the first few rounds though, as they’ve had success in later rounds, even selecting players who would go on to be successful for other teams, like Tyrod Taylor and Pernell McPhee. If they can somehow land a player like Florida State’s cornerback Jalen Ramsey, or the wide-receiver from Ole Miss, Laquon Treadwell, an already immensely talented roster, and franchise at large, would only become stronger, and that’s something that strikes fear into not only just the AFC North, but the NFL as a whole.