Baltimore Ravens: Big takeaways from 2020-2021 season

Final Thoughts:

• It will be a sad day in Ravens history when the team cuts ties with Mark Ingram, but they don’t have a choice. He has been a pleasure to watch play — particularly during the 2019 season — and he appears to be the ultimate teammate. But J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards will lead this unit into next season, and Justice Hill plays special teams. There’s no way he comes back.

Happy Trails, Mr. Ingram. Your stay will be treasured by the Flock for years to come.

• The offensive line is, well, uneven. Ronnie Stanley and Orlando Brown Jr. might be the best bookend tackles in the league, and I became a believer in Bradley Bozeman this season — particularly in regards to him pulling from that guard position. It feels like there are enough active bodies to find a right guard for next season, but that center position concerns me.

Probably more than any other position on the offense, to be honest.

There are a few good ones in this year’s draft, and that might be the way to go, particularly in concern to the salary cap and the need to keep pumping in young talent every year. But watching errant snaps to Jackson from more than one center makes me want to look at a trusted veteran who won’t get shaken up in big moments.

• That defensive front of Derek Wolfe, Brandon Williams, and Calais Campbell took a while to come together, but it sure did in a big way. It would be great to see the team be able to bring back Wolfe to keep this unit together another year and be able to mix in some more of Justin Madubuike. With a strong front and a good group of corners, the defense is off to a fast start.

• However… there are serious concerns about the edge. With Matthew Judon, Yannick Ngakoue, Tyus Bowser, Pernell McPhee, and Jihad Ward all entering free agency, the cupboard is pretty bare. Again, it’s easy to spend other people’s money, but I would try to put together a multi-year deal very quickly with Bowser, and a one-year deal with McPhee and/or Ward. Then I would have a long conversation about Judon and Ngakoue.

We know the Ravens shipped a third-rounder to Minnesota to acquire Ngakoue, but should that be the only determining factor? I still lean his way because he has an elite skill that is important in the NFL — rushing the passer. But Judon does a lot of things well.

Sign the one you think will help the team most. Forget about the pick you traded. It already left town.

• Patrick Queen has so much talent and a very long way to go to maximize that talent. That’s the whole entry.

• I’m a fan of Chuck Clark and Deshon Elliott. They rarely are caught being out of position, and they both stick their noses into the mess to make tackles.

Still, the Ravens need a single-high safety who can drop down and cover the slot. Tavon Young‘s injuries make him nearly impossible to count on going forward, and moving Marlon Humphrey inside takes away some of what he does best on the outside. Adding that guy who can play deep or move inside, while allowing Clark and Elliott to remain on the field in sub packages, can help out the back end quite a bit.

• Having Humphrey, Marcus Peters, and Jimmy Smith back is good. Having Anthony Averett with them is even gooder. More goodest? Goodliest?

• The Ravens will be a top-10 team going into next season, with the potential for more. Consider they will get back Ronnie Stanley and Nick Boyle to this team before any other additions. This is the season they will need to get to the AFC Championship Game or there will be significant changes — if those changes don’t come this offseason.