Each weekday through April 24, the day before the first round of the
Today we’ll examine the defensive line:
Current defensive linemen under contract:
Chances that the Ravens draft DL in first three rounds: Decent. Retooling their defensive line, which was uncharacteristically pushed around in the run game at times last season, was an offseason priority for the Ravens. To that end, they were aggressive in adding Canty and Spears, two veterans who bring size and versatility to the line. Those two, plus the continued development of Jones and McPhee with Ngata serving as the anchor, has the makings of a good defensive line rotation. However, General Manager Ozzie Newsome said earlier in the week that it still is an area the team could address in the draft. Clearly, one area where the Ravens are looking to improve is at nose tackle. Cody had a disappointing season last year and offseason hip surgery will hamper his preparation for the 2013 campaign.
Possibly on Ravens’ radar: Michael Buchanan (Illinois), Tank Carradine (Florida State), Quinton Dial (Alabama), Lavar Edwards (LSU), Margus Hunt (SMU), Damontre Moore (Texas A&M), Alex Okafor (Texas),
Outlook: The Ravens addressed this position in free agency, but that won’t stop them from adding another one in the draft. Ngata has had injury issues the past couple of years and has not been a consistent, dominant force the past two years. McPhee has had myriad injuries and needed groin surgery after the