Despite the departure of Ray Lewis and the enormous void that the ultimate Ravens leader leaves in Baltimore's roster, there may actually may be more pressing defensive deficiency that the Ravens will have to address in the draft. The Ravens defensive line had its share of issues in the 2012-2013 season. The first of which was that the Ravens started aging nose tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu who performed at average levels at his very best. Behind Ma'ake there was Terrance Cody who performed even worse as he got knocked around and blown up by opposing offensive lineman. The other major issue was that Haloti Ngata played most of the season and post-season with a sprained knee and shoulder injury. When he's healthy, Haloti Ngata is arguably the best defensive tackle in the NFL. Ngata, however, has not had a season where he has stayed relatively healthy in at least two years, and as a result, the Ravens run defense struggled for much of last year.
I must give Haloti Ngata credit for playing through nagging injuries in so many games last season. In fact, all four of the Ravens' biggest defensive stars played with rather serious injuries throughout the playoffs and even in the Super Bowl. Ed Reed never missed a game in the last two seasons despite a torn labrum and nerve impingement in his neck, Ray Lewis played desite a less than totally healed right arm, Haloti Ngata played through a sprained MCL, and Terrell Suggs rushed back to play on an only partially rehabbed achilles tendon only to suffer and play through a fairly serious biceps tear. This is a team of veteran warriors, and it made me proud to see that not even injuries would keep them from winning a Super Bowl ring together.
I'm still basking in the glory of my team's Super Bowl victory, but the 2012 season is over and the 2013 off-season is underway. Ray Lewis is gone, Ed Reed's situation is uncertain, and we're still left with serious issues on the defensive line. Fortunately for Baltimore, the 2013 NFL draft appears as though it will be overflowing with top notch interior defensive behemoths. Some experts project that 5-7 interior defensive linemen will be taken in the first round of the draft. If the Ravens can't find first round value in any available linebackers when it's their time to pick then there's a strong possibility they'll go with a big-bodied, middle-clogging compliment to Haloti Ngata in order to bolster an ailing interior run defense. Let's take a look at some of the best possible options for them:
DEFENSIVE TACKLE
1. JOHNATHAN HANKINS- In this list I'm not interested in simply naming the top three defensive tackles in the draft as some of those players will be totally out of reach for the Ravens and others won't fit what the Ravens are looking for despite being extremely talented and athletic. The Ravens need a big, strong, menacing defensive tackle that can occupy blockers to give big support in the running game to a linebacker corps currently mired in uncertainty with the aformentioned departure of its longetime unquestioned leader. Johnathan Hankins is just such a defensive tackle. He doesn't have the speed to get by defenders and become a threatening pass-rusher, but he has the size and strength to collapse pockets in order to put pressure on quarterbacks. He ran an impressive 5.31 forty yard dash at the NFL combine considering his 335 pound body weight. Hankins will have to make sure to keep up his conditioning to be effective in the NFL, and that will definitely be a concern to a Ravens team that had dealt with the conditioning issues of Terrance Cody in the past few seasons. He has the size (6'3"), strength, and youthful intensity to be an upgrade over Ma'ake Kemoeatu at nose tackle or simply provide depth at defensive tackle behind Haloti Ngata. There's a good chance that Hankins is gone by the time the Ravens make their first pick, but he's not totally out of their reach if they trade up a number of spaces in the first round...but don't count on that.
2. JOHN JENKINS- There is a much higher likelihood that the Ravens are able to draft John Jenkins at the end of the first round, and that would certainly not be a bad thing. Jenkins is an inch taller than Hankins at 6'4" and also somewhat heavier at 346 pounds. Jenkins possesses decent upper body strength and hand skills to shed blockers. He'd fit right in at nose tackle in a 3-4 defense such as that of the Ravens, but he doesn't have the lower body explosion and agility that Hankins possesses. Jenkins will be good in run support but won't likley be a great 3-down player. His size and length will likely still make him a good value at the end of the first round though, and the Ravens could certainly use a big young nose tackle that isn't named Terrance Cody to improve the interior run defense.
3. JESSE WILLIAMS- I was initially eager to see Jesse Williams' combine performance because he had claimed to have bench pressed 600 pounds in training at college. That claim was clearly wildly exaggerated as Williams only managed 30 reps with 225 at the NFL combine. A quick note from an experienced bencher and strength coach: a 600 pound bench press is almost totally out of the realm of possibility for college football player because the amount of bench-specific training required to achieve such a feat at such a young age would mean sacrificing a lot of other important training for football. Typically a bencher who can hit 225 for 30 reps is capable of a bench press in the low 400s. A bench presser in the 500 pound range can usually hit in the 40-45 rep range, and a bencher who can hit roughly 50 reps on the bench press is usually good a max in the 535-550 range and that's extremely rare in the world of college football. Coaches and players tend to exaggerate bench press maxes with either false claims or judicious use of spotter assistance *cough cough Larry Allen*.
Now back to the player in question. Jesse Williams is still a big strong defensive lineman with a great motor. He isn't an exceptional athlete from the mold of Haloti Ngata (but who is?) as his lacks the agility and lateral movement ability to to be a great pass rusher. What he lacks in athleticism, however, he makes up in size, brute force, and hustle. He'll have less issues with conditioning than Jonathan Hankins, but also less size at 6'3" 323. Some major draft analysts don't have Williams going in the first round. If doesn't get picked in the first round than the Ravens may be wise to trade back and take him early in the 2nd round and then pick speedy young middle linebacker later in the same round.
Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 3 of my 2013 Ravens Draft Wishlist wherein I'll examine available safeties to either provide depth behind or fill Ed Reed's vacant spot if he end's up departing for another team. I would hope that a talented young safety would get a chance to first learn from Ed Reed for the next year or two before attempting to fill his seemingly impossibly-to-fill shoes. This need is not nearly as dire at the moment, however, because the Ravens already picked up a couple of talented young safeties in the last couple of seasons with Christian Thompson and Omar Brown. I hope we see Omar Brown on the field this season as he seems to just always be around the football to the extent that Ed Reed said Brown reminds him of himself. The Ravens would be incredibly foolish to let Ed Reed go in the wake of Ray Lewis' departure, and hopefully they're able to agree on a mutually beneficial contract with the future hall of famer. The Ravens need leadership right now, and Ed is just the man to provide it to the defense.
AS ALWAYS
GO RAVENS!!!
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