Three Sneaky Draft Needs The Ravens Must Address Now

The Ravens could go in a number of directions with the 14th overall pick, with their offensive line and defensive line in need of repair, a case to be made for a tight end or larger receiver and this franchise always willing to invest prime draft currency in the secondary.

There are obvious positions of need, many of which align quite well with the way draft board is expected to unfold, and givn the first-round strengths of this draft from a positional standpoint. It’s easy to see a flat fire, or smashed hood even from afar. But if you look a little deeper, and prop open the hood of this Ravens roster, there are some engine hoses and pistons that need tending to as well (okay, kind of a trite metaphor, but you get the idea). And with 11 picks – not that they should use all of them - this front office will get multiple swings at trying to upgrade and fortify in various ways.

Seems to me, these more under-the-radar needs – at least from a most immediate point of view – are going to end up being part of their player-selection process. They certainly should be.

Running Back

I conducted a historical study of NFL running backs in their age 32 season, which Derrick Henry is heading into. He is a unicorn and all of that, but it ain’t pretty. This is where careers go to expire, not age 30 as is so often talked about. (Check out this space on Thursday morning for the full report)

 Regardless, 2026 might end up being Henry’s last ride. He has no money guaranteed in 2027, and nothing lasts forever. Explosive change-of-pace back Keaton Mitchell is gone, third-down back Justice Hill has dealt with injury issues throughout his career and is starting to get up there and Rasheen Ali has flashed at times, but it would seem to me the Ravens would want RB3 to be someone who could maybe boost their return game to another level. And they might end up needing more than an RB3.

An injury to Hill would create major problems for this roster as presently constructed. Rookie offensive coordinator Declan Doyle has never called plays before and spent most of his career with Sean Payton – he longtime mentor – who is always collecting backs and prized multiplicity in the run game. Doyle spent last year in Chicago with Ben Johnsin, who believes in the same things as Payton and culled extreme production from Bears seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai despite already having DeAndre Swift on the roster.

Jadarian Price, the “other” Notre Dame running back, brings explosive special teams ability as well as great hands. Henry has rushed at least 307 times each of the last two seasons; he’s never done it 300 times or more in three straight seasons. Since the NFL/AFL merger in 1970, only three running backs have rushed 250 times or more in their age 32 season – Frank Gore (260), Emmitt Smith (261) and Jerome Bettis (250).

Developmental/Back-up Quarterback

The Cooper Rush experiment was a total disaster and re-signing Snoop Huntley is a fun story, but this is a new offense with a brand new coaching staff and an overhauled offensive roster, so plug-n-play it is not. The Ravens have taken runs at development quarterbacks before, they did a fair amount of work on Jalen Milroe a year as we heard it, and there is also the chance that Lamar Jackson isn’t present for large chunks of OTAs as a new system is being implemented by Doyle.

Having another arm around with some upside would make a lot of sense to me. Especially from Day One with a rookie offensive coordinator installing a new system Seems like a perfect time to see if you can find a diamond in the rough at quarterback. Just throwing a dart here, but Georgia Tech’s Haynes King is a bully of a QB, who throws the ball well enough to merit a look, and can run people over or run away from them. Fron what I gather, the Ravens haven’t shown a lot of outward interest in him, but that doesn’t always mean much. Could be a seventh-round option.

You know who definitely has taken a real shine to King? Sean Payton. Hmm. Probably sees some Taysom Hill in him; a very interesting hybrid QB/fullback/whatever who managed to see the field even while Payton’s Saints employed Hall of Fame QB Drew Brees. Jackson is approaching age 30, he’s carried the ball a ton and absorbed a career’s worth of hits and the Ravens just let an All Pro fullback walk in free agency, Pat Ricard, because, in part, he didn’t fit. Maybe King would.

 Inside Linebacker

The Ravens are stuck with Roquan Smith for another year by virtue of his bloated contract extension. Kicking the can any further for cap purposes would be highly regrettable and the savings wouldn’t be worth the future riek. They should be preparing for life beyond him right now. Teddye Buchanon, a former fourth-round pick, took advantage of the opportunity to see the field more and he has some upside. But wearing the dot for every snap in a Jesse Minter defense is a big deal.

It’s something the Ravens could certainly attack in the 2027 draft, but it also might make sense to get someone with that sort of potential to begin learning the defense as it’s installed this season. Smith makes $20M this season but has no guaranteed money due next year. His play has collapsed since Mike Macdonald left the organization.

Maybe a resurgence will occur with Minter in charge. But he has been less of a physical presence around the line of scrimmage and he has been a total liability in coverage. Smith had his fewest solo tackles since 2019 last year, the lowest percentage of defensive snaps with a tackle in his career, his fewest pressures since 2021. Opposing quarterbacks had a 72% completion percentage targeting Smith in Chicago; it’s 79% in Baltimore, with the average yards per completion going from 8.7 there to 9.6 here.

CJ Allen (like Smith, the quarterback of the University of Georgia defense) could end up not going as high as some mock drafters are suggesting. Second-round might be a little rich for the Ravens to grab him given other more pressing needs. But it’s time to mull a succession plan for Smith.