Baltimore Ravens: 3 ways to get better in the NFL Draft

Rebuild the Linebacker Corps for the Future

Aside from Mosely and Suggs the Ravens linebacker room doesn’t look overly great. Matt Judon is promising but the rest of the group is unspectacular. Za’Darius Smith is coming off a disappointing sophomore campaign. Kamalei Correa has shown nothing to get excited about since being a 2nd round pick last year. C.J. Mosley needs a partner at the linebacker position. As I alluded to earlier, though, this year’s draft class is full of defensive talent.

One candidate to try to fill Zachary Orr’s role at inside linebacker is Zach Cunningham. Cunningham is one of the more known and higher rated linebacker prospects in this year’s draft but I am not sold that he will go as high as some people think. I don’t think it is out of the question that he falls to the Ravens in the second round. He’d offer upside as a cover linebacker and his ability to find the ball through traffic and make a play is great. He’ll need to work on his tackling and could be stronger but the tools are there to develop alongside Mosely.

A Look At Outside Linebacker Options:

Moving outside, the Ravens need to find more players to try to replace Elvis Dumervil this season. They’ll also eventually need to replace Terrell Suggs, too. One player I think they should definitely take a look at is Ejuan Price of the Pitt Panthers.

Price may be ‘undersized’ and may have an injury history that is slightly worrying, but his tape shows a disruptive speed rusher and that speed is something that will stay with him in the NFL. He needs to add some power to his game to be able to win in multiple ways but his upside as a situational pass rusher, much like Elvis Dumervil, is incredibly high and I would love to see him in Baltimore.

Next: Baltimore Ravens: 3 Things We Know Before The Draft

The Ravens should also take a look at T.J. Watt. Since the draft process began Watt has been slowly gaining attention and is starting to creep into the first round, and if he fell to the Ravens for their second round pick I’d imagine it’d be hard to overlook him. He has a great work ethic, much like his brothers, and despite playing just one year at outside linebacker he has pretty good hands. Mix this with his measurable and the fact that his best football appears to be ahead of him and he could be a great situational player early on as he develops into a full-time start in place of Terrell Suggs.