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Russell Street Report Street Talk A Look at Ravens Pre-Draft Roster

The three day event that is the NFL draft has become a grand spectacle. Players will hear their names called, be over-analyzed, and more often than not, be told that they have what it takes to have a flourishing career in the NFL.

In some cases, that’s true. See C.J. Mosley. In his rookie season he started immediately, exceeded expectations, and will continue to hold down the middle linebacker position for years to come.

However, for every C.J. Mosley, you have N number of guys who are going to be role players for some period of time, if not for their entire careers. This is where the draft is won and lost and seasons are made and broken. Can you find the Pernell McPhee’s, Arthur Jones’s, or John Urschel’s that can strengthen your depth chart and step in when needed? McPhee and Jones did that for years and they parlayed their performances into huge contracts elsewhere, but while they were here, they were role players behind the Ravens’ big guns.

So going into the draft, I want to take a look at the depth currently on the Ravens roster (per BaltimoreRavens.com) and see where pieces could be added to provide increased support.

There are a few positions where the Ravens are set, and this is one of them. The signing of Matt Schaub solidified the quarterback position going into 2015. Barring an injury, I don’t see any movement here.

When I started to think about writing this piece, I anticipated the offensive line being an area where the Ravens would have to improve their depth. Now that it’s on paper, it doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would. The starting five are solid across the board and the next three guys on the depth chart (Urschel, Hurst, and Jensen) aren’t world beaters, but I’m sure the majority of teams in the league would take those three as backups. With that being said, you can never have enough quality offensive lineman. Like in all businesses, you want to keep your investments safe. In the NFL, your investment is the Quarterback. I think it’s safe to say that at some point over the three days, the Ravens will draft at least one offensive lineman to add to this group.

Running back is a position in flux. We think we know what we’ll get from Forsett, but we really don’t know what we’ll get from Taliaferro and Toussaint. They both looked good in a small sample last season, however until their carries increase, we can’t be certain who they are as of yet. Look for the Ravens to add some depth here through the draft as well.

This is a dying position in the NFL and the Ravens are one of a few teams that still utilize a Fullback. I don’t think the Ravens will add any depth here since they wouldn’t want to waste a roster spot on another Fullback.

The hot-button position for the Ravens this offseason, wide receiver. They’ve done nothing so far to address their need here, but we can all be confident that depth will be added either through the draft or from signings after roster cuts. Although unproven, I’m fairly confident in the four guys at the top of the depth chart. We’re all hoping that one of them steps up and makes us forget all about the lack of offseason activity on the wide receiver front.

Tight End is another position that we can be confident will be addressed. The Ravens can’t let this team go into the 2015 season without giving Flacco some toys to play with. If Pitta can come back healthy, that’s equivalent to the best free agent signing they could have made this offseason. In the likely scenario that he doesn’t, they could be in trouble here. The Ravens’ activity next weekend might give us some indication as to where Pitta truly is in his recovery.

This is the deepest group on the team. The Ravens seem to churn out consistent producers along the defensive line year after year. If Kapron Lewis-Moore and Brent Urban (who I’m particularly excited to see play) can come back healthy, this group could be even scarier. Of all the positions on the team, I would be most surprised if a significant move happened with this group.

Inside Linebacker (and linebacker in general as you’ll see next) is one position I really hadn’t thought of as a position of need for the Ravens. However, looking at the roster changed my mind in a big way. If Mosley or Smith go down with an injury, this group is in trouble. The Ravens have shown they don’t have faith in Arthur Brown and Albert McClellan can be serviceable, but I’m not sure he can be relied on to start game in and game out. I don’t think they’ll go inside linebacker early, but expect the Ravens to address the lack of depth here next weekend.

Several mock drafts have linked the Ravens with a pass rusher in Round 1. Before looking over the roster, I thought there was no way that they would go in that direction early. After though, it might not be such a bad idea. Both Suggs and Dumervil are on the wrong side of 30 and Upshaw’s contract is up after this season. An injury to anyone on this group could seriously derail the season, especially if the secondary doesn’t improve. The best pass coverage is a good pass rush.

The other position that got the most attention this offseason is cornerback. Beyond Jimmy Smith and Lardarius Webb, there’s really no telling what you’ll get from the other guys on the roster. There’s not a doubt in my mind that they’ll add depth here in the draft. This position is of the utmost importance in this division and in today’s NFL. As Ozzie would say, you can never have enough quality corners.

This group looks to be in fairly good shape. Lewis and Hill will most likely start and a combination of Elam and Brooks, if he’s able to come back from a PCL injury, off the bench will be able to keep our minds at ease (depending on your thoughts of Elam) if someone were to go down. If Brooks is not able to return this season, it will leave this group a bit thin, but I don’t think it’s an area of too much concern.

The Ravens are set here as well. The Wolfpack should be back together and they form one of the best threesomes in the league.

The Ravens, like every NFL team at this time of year, have holes to fill. In addition to the holes that already exist, there are bound to be injuries along the way that will force Coach Harbaugh to dig into his depth chart. The quality of that depth will go a long way in determining whether this team is sitting on their couches in January, or putting on their pads for the playoffs.