Reviewing the Baltimore Ravens' NFL Draft Strategy

The most important thing a team can do in the NFL draft is accurately find the place where need and talent meet as often as possible and then, barring that, knowing when taking the best available player may pay off more than meeting a more immediate need.

This is certainly true for the Baltimore Ravens this year, however they have another level they must consider this year—building depth. Ravens director of player personnel Eric DeCosta has gone so far as to say the theme for this year's draft is depth, and it's hard to argue with that approach.

They do have needs that extend beyond depth, of course—such as a starting offensive guard, a run-stopping linebacker and at least one additional wide receiver—but beyond that, this year is all about building for the future.

Beyond a run-stopper, linebacker depth is key for the Ravens. Sergio Kindle's future with the team remains up in the air and Ray Lewis may only have a season or two left on the field. The same goes for safety Ed Reed and center Peter Konz, and running back Ray Rice doesn't appear to have a viable No. 2 behind him at present, either.

This need to build depth does give the Ravens leeway to be more creative than one would first think this year.

Aside from areas of immediate need, the team can focus on those depth adds to come from the pool of best-available talent and hope to get players who don't need much development. These depth adds could thus see situational or rotational action in the short-term while being developed into bona fide playmakers before ultimately becoming full-time starters.

Generally, the Ravens take the best player available on their big board, eschewing a need-based approach. Baltimore does, however, have some glaring needs to be addressed this year, so don't be surprised if they take a hybrid path this year, especially in the first three rounds.

The Ravens may also seek to trade down in rounds one or two, depending on who they are targeting, in order to stockpile more picks. With the desire to build depth on the roster clearly stated, the more picks they can amass in later rounds in order to get those depth-oriented additions, the better.

Ultimately, look for Baltimore to meet some of their more immediate needs early on and then fall back into their best-available draft philosophy for the depth they need. The Ravens generally draft well, even if they don't make the flashiest or most surprising moves in the league, and this year shouldn't be much different.

They'll get their guard, their receiver, their linebackers; they'll likely add a safety and a running back. But when, and who, is anyone's guess—the board will dictate this far more than need, as it has for the Ravens in years previous.

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