The Ravens don’t have much experience behind Willis McGahee but they do have talent.  Rookie RBs Ray Rice and Allen Patrick might have key roles in 2008 for the Ravens.  Willis McGahee will be the workhorse at running back for the Ravens again in 2008.  He is tough enough to run between the tackles, has decent speed and he has soft hands out of the backfield.  McGahee played in 15 games (all starts) for the Ravens last season and he carried the ball 294 times for 1,207 yards (4.1 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  He also caught 43 passes for 231 yards (5.4 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Ravens hope that the younger backs can give McGahee enough of a breather during the season to keep him healthy all year long.  McGahee has now played in 61 games (55 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 1,162 times for 4,572 yards (3.9 ypc) with 31 TD runs.  He also has caught 111 passes for 734 yards (6.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.

Rookie 2nd round pick Ray Rice will likely be McGahee’s main caddy this season.  Rice is short at 5′8″ but he weighs 205 pounds and reminds me in style of Maurice Jones-Drew.  The Ravens can only hope that he is.  Rice averaged 1,642 yards rushing and 16.3 rushing TDs per season in his three years at Rutgers.  Look for him to do a good job.

P.J. Daniels is currently #3 on the depth chart but he didn’t get to play last season because of a hamstring injury but he has potential and the Ravens will give him a chance to battle Rice for the #2 job on the team.  But, he better beware of rookie Allen Patrick and Cory Ross behind him.

Allen Patrick was a 7th round pick in this April’s NFL Draft but don’t count him out this season.  He carried the football 173 times for 1,009 yards (5.8 ypc) with 8 TD runs at Oklahoma so he played against good competition.  The reason he slipped so much in the draft is because of durability.

Cory Ross could move up the depth chart if he could just hold onto the ball more.  Ross played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Ravens this season and he carried the ball 12 times for 72 yards (6.0 ypc) with 1 TD run but he lost 2 fumbles last year.  Ross played in 4 games (0 starts) before last season and he didn’t touch the football on offense.  Ross has potential but he has to quit putting the ball on the ground.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  C

Tomorrow the Ravens have a press conference set up to announce the retirement of OT Jonathan Ogden.  Ogden will probably be enshrined in Canton, Ohio in the NFL Hall of Fame five years from now as he was a dominant offensive tackle.  He was a big key on the Super Bowl winning Ravens’ team as he often blew open big holes for Jamal Lewis to run through.  Ogden will be replaced at left tackle by second year man Jared Gaither who will have some very big shoes to fill.  This will hurt the Ravens’ offensive line pretty badly as Gaither is nowhere near Jonathan Ogden’s league at tackle.

Any of the Ravens’ QBs on the roster could win the starting job this season.  Kyle Boller is the veteran of the bunch but he has not stepped up when given the chance to play.  Boller has a strong arm but he oftens throws the ball where he shouldn’t and it often costs the team.  He played in 12 games (8 starts) for the Ravens last season and he completed 168 of 275 passes (61.1%) for 1,743 yards with 9 TD passes and 10 interceptions (75.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 19 times for 89 yards (4.7 ypc).  Boller has never improved as he once was thought as the QB of the future for the Ravens but this could be his last season in purple.  Boller has now played in 53 games (42 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 746 of 1,311 passes (56.9%) for 7,846 yards with 45 TD passes and 44 interceptions (81.9 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 147 times for 440 yards (3.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs.

2nd year man Troy Smith had an audition late last season and he showed some promise.  He is short but the Ravens rolled the pocket often to give Smith better sightlines.  He also is a good runner and he showed that last season.  Smith played in 4 games (2 starts) for the Ravens last season and he completed 40 of 76 passes (52.6%) for 452 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 interceptions (79.5 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 12 times for 54 yards (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Smith will battle rookie Joe Flacco both now and in the future for the starting QB job of the Ravens and it will be interesting to see how he does in the competition.  He will have a good chance to unseat Boller this year.

1st round pick Joe Flacco of Delaware will have an uphill battle in trying to beat out Boller and Smith this season.  Flacco might have the most talent of this bunch but he played in a shotgun offense and it will take him some time to adjust being back under a center.  Still, Flacco projects to be the starter down the road for the Ravens based on his big time arm strength.

 PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  C-

The Ravens got another good value pick in Patrick who was projected to go much higher in the draft.  He is 6′0″, 105 pounds but he’s quick running a 4.5 40.  Patrick is a power runner despite his size but that also gets him into trouble some times as he gets dinged up.  Patrick played in 36 games (18 starts) at Oklahoma and he carried the ball 367 times for 1,906 yards (5.2 ypc) with 14 TD runs.  He also caught 14 passes for 64 yards (4.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Patrick will have to help out on special teams if he wants to make the Ravens’ opening day roster but he has the potential to do more down the road.

The Ravens got great value with this selection as Harper was projected to be a 3rd or 4th round draft pick by most experts.  He is a big target at 6′3″, 205 pounds but he’s not overly fast running a 4.54 40.  Still, Harper has great hands and he could fit in well with the Ravens offense as a #4 or #5 WR as he is very skilled at finding the sticks on third down.  Harper played in 51 games (10 starts) at Virginia Tech and he caught 83 passes for 1,338 yards (16.1 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  Another nice pick by the Ravens.