Will the Ravens’ Focus Be on Building the Offense?

Mink: As it stands now, the Ravens have an obvious need at wide receiver. They made it clear that they want to upgrade that room. The other need could be at cornerback, but that’s if the Ravens don’t bring back Marcus Peters. If Peters returns, the need for a high pick at corner is significantly smaller.

There’s still a lot of time between now and the draft. While I don’t expect the Ravens to be big players on the free-agent market, seeing which of their unrestricted free agents they retain and who they bring in will determine their draft needs. The goal will be to enter the draft with as few glaring holes as possible.

If the Ravens don’t take a wide receiver or cornerback in the first round, I do think they could pick an outside linebacker or defensive lineman, for example. Justin Houston and Jason Pierre-Paul are both pending free agents, so the Ravens need to either bring one back or keep adding more talent to the outside linebacker room consisting of Tyus Bowser, Odafe Oweh and David Ojabo. If Calais Campbell retires or doesn’t return, that’s a hole on the defensive line to fill.

I don’t think Baltimore thinks too much about balancing the level of talent on both sides of the ball. The offense has one of the most talented players in all of football in Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews, J.K. Dobbins, Ronnie Stanley and more. The Ravens believe they have a lot of talent, and continuity, on offense going into next year, with an obvious need to improve at wide receiver.

If the Ravens are in a position where it makes most sense to make an already strong defense even stronger, they’ll do so without apology. Having a dominant defense leading the way isn’t a bad thing. Just ask the 2000 Ravens. That year, the addition of defensive tackle Sam Adams to an already stout defense put it over the top. Though it’s also fair to point out that using the No. 5-overall pick on Jamal Lewis and signing tight end Shannon Sharpe were huge moves too.