Linebacker/Defensive End Dan Cody had knee surgery two weeks ago and he could miss the entire 2007 season.  He only played in 2 games last season for the Ravens and he made 1 tackle.  He didn’t play as a rookie because of injuries and he could be watching the sands of time running low on his NFL career.

The Ravens let Jamal Lewis walk away as a free agent and they traded for Willis McGahee to replace him.  McGahee is definately a faster back than Lewis but he doesn’t have near the same toughness on runs between the tackles.  The Ravens will likely live with that and run more sweep type plays to take advantage of McGahee’s speed.  McGahee played in 14 games (all starts) last season for the Bills and he carried the ball 259 times for 990 yards (3.8 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He also caught 18 passes for 156 yards (8.7 avg).  McGahee’s career numbers are not eye-popping so it’s hard to see if trading for him and letting Lewis walk will help the running game of the Ravens or not.  McGahee has played in 46 games (40 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 868 times for 3,365 yards (3.9 ypc) with 24 TD runs.  He also has caught 68 passes for 503 yards (7.4 avg).

Musa Smith will likely be the top backup for the Ravens as long as he can stay healthy….which is no sure thing.  He played in 12 games (0 starts) last season and he carried the ball 36 times for 153 yards (4.3 ypc) with 0 TD runs.  He also caught 22 passes for 135 yards (6.1 avg) with 0 TD grabs.  Smith has been injured most of his career with the Ravens so it has been hard to see what they have in him.  He has played in 33 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 57 times for 232 yards (4.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also has caught 27 passes for 171 yards (6.3 avg).

Mike Anderson will be back as a reserve running back and part time fullback.  Anderson has always been a good runner and he was again last season.  He played in all 16 games (0 starts) for the Ravens last season and he carried the ball 39 times for 183 yards (4.7 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 9 passes for 54 yards (6.0 avg).  Anderson has always been stuck behind an elite runner because he could have started for a lot of teams during his career.  In fact, if McGahee got hurt the Ravens would probably go with Anderson as the main man instead of Smith.  Anderson is a downhill running type that always hits the hole hard and moves the pile.  Anderson has played in 90 games (51 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 904 times for 4,005 yards (4.4 ypc) with 37 TD runs.  He also has caught 88 passes for 701 yards (8.0 avg) with 5 TD grabs.

P.J. Daniels didn’t play as a rookie for the Ravens but he will be around again this season to try to get some playing time and prove himself.

The Ravens have used their 5th round pick in next season’s draft on Jared Gaither whom they selected in the 5th round of the NFL’s supplemental draft.  Gaither is a monster at 6′9″, 324 pounds and he was an outstanding player at Maryland his first two seasons there.  As a true freshman in 2005 Jared Gaither played in 11 games (8 starts) and he didn’t allow a sack and only committed 2 penalties in 583 snaps.  He played in all 12 games as a sophomore but he was ruled academically inelgible for the coming season which is why he opted to enter the supplemental draft.  He could wind up being a steal down the road for the Ravens as he has the potential to be a starting left tackle down the road.