Ray Rice was drafted to back up Willis McGahee.  Rice was outstanding at Rutgers since the day he arrived there.  Rice played in 37 games (all starts) at Rutgers and he carried the ball 910 times for 4,926 yards (5.4 ypc) with 49 TD runs.  Rice also caught 37 passes for 334 yards (9.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Rice is small at 5′8″, 205 pounds and he’s not overly fast as he runs a 4.55 40.  But, Rice is a downhill runner who runs with good pad level and he should be a solid backup for the Ravens and he might work his way into the starting lineup at some point.

The Ravens traded up to nab QB Joe Flacco who they had rated as the #2 QB in this draft.  Flacco has nice size at 6′6″, 232 pounds but he doesn’t have much agility and he runs a 4.95 40.  Flacco has a very strong arm but he played against very weak competition at Delaware and he didn’t have to pay for mistakes he made at that level.  Flacco played in 29 games (26 starts) at Pittsburgh & Delaware and he completed 596 of 942 passes (63.3%) for 7,057 yards with 41 TD passes and 15 interceptions.  Flacco will battle Kyle Boller and Troy Smith for the starting job in Training Camp and the pre-season.  This could be a little bit of a reach where the Ravens took him.

The Ravens have acquired cornerback Fabian Washington from the Oakland Raiders for a 4th round pick in this year’s NFL Draft.  Washington played in 15 games (3 starts) for the Raiders last season and he made 40 tackles, defensed 8 passes and he intercepted 1 pass.  Washington has now played in 45 games (28 starts) in his NFL career and he has made 123 tackles, defensed 24 passes and he intercepted 5 passes.  Washington will likely start the season as the Ravens’ nickel back but he could start if they have injuries.  This was a good trade for the Ravens.

The Ravens were one of only a handful of teams that got production out of every player they drafted in 2007.  Offensive guard Ben Grubbs was the first round pick for the Ravens and he played in all 16 games and started 12 of them.  Grubbs will be a good starter for the Ravens for quite some time in the future as he was a great pick.  WR/KR Yamon Figurs was a 3rd round pick for the Ravens in last seasons’ draft.  He played in 14 games (0 starts) for the Ravens and he carried the ball 1 time for -1 yard (-1.0 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 36 yards.  But Figurs made his money on special teams.  Figurs returned 46 kickoffs for 1,138 yards (24.7 avg) with 1 TD return.  He also returned 16 punts for 171 yards (10.7 avg) with 1 TD return.  As long as Figurs doesn’t fumble the ball much he could develop into a Pro-Bowl type player.  Fellow 3rd round pick Marshal Yanda was an absolute steal for the Ravens.  He played in all 16 games as a rookie and started 12 of them.  Yanda can handle either guard or tackle on the offensive line and he should be a starter for the Ravens for a long, long time.  The Ravens first 4th round pick of last season was outside linebacker Antwan Barnes.  Barnes played in 14 games (0 starts) for the Ravens last season and he made 10 tackles, had 2 sacks and forced a fumble.  Fullback Le’Ron McClain was a starter most of last season for the Ravens.  He played in 16 games (11 starts) last season and he carried the ball 8 times for 18 yards (2.3 ypc).  He also caught 9 passes for 55 yards (6.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  QB Troy Smith was the 5th round pick of the Ravens and he might be the quaterback of the future for the Ravens.  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).  Smith also carried the ball 12 times for 54 yards (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  The Ravens also like their 6th round pick, OLB Prescott Burgess.  Burgess played in 8 games (1 start) for the Ravens last season and he had 4 tackles.

GRADE FOR 2007 SEASON:   A-

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A

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.