The Baltimore Ravens got off to a slow start, but eventually steamrolled the opposition on their way to the AFC North title and home field advantage in the playoffs. Then their locomotive was derailed by the Tennessee Titans, leaving plenty of NFL futures bettors at BetAnySports upset.

What can they do to remedy that? Have they taken a step toward adding those ingredients that are going to be necessary to overtake teams like the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC, not to mention the Pittsburgh Steelers and / or the Cleveland Browns in their own division?

Lamar Jackson, the Heisman Trophy winner who captured the Most Valuable Player award in 2019, is going to be a marked man this season. He's no longer catching anyone by surprise, and it must be noted that he still needs to win a playoff game. So if and when the 2020 season gets underway, he'll be facing a whole schedule of opponents who are game-planning just for him, and most likely in a different way then they did last year.

So it stands to reason that he could really use a few weapons.

That wasn't the only thing with the Ravens, who were so good on offense that they overcame some holes on defense that maybe weren't noticed enough. When you lead the NFL in yards gained on a per-drive basis, as they did, and chew up clock (they were easily the league's leaders in possession time), you are always going to put the opposing offense on its heels in terms of field position and limit their number of possessions. But that might not quite be the case this season, unless Baltimore is able to keep that ground-gaining machine running.

So yes, there were needs to address.

First off all, general manager Eric DeCosta (who has ably taken over from Ozzie Newsome) added a couple of linebackers with first-rounder Patrick Queen (LSU) and Malik Harrison (Ohio State).

They like to think they made the ground game better too when they drafted JK Dobbins of Ohio State in the second round. Jackson set the all-time NFL record for most rushing yards for a quarterback in a season, but the truth is that Mark Ingram could use some help in the backfield, particularly now with a strained calf. And Dobbins, who has enough breakaway speed to have run 40 yards or more seven times last season, covers that distance very well, with a 4.44-second time in the 40-yard dash at the Combine.

Having gained 2003 yards for the Buckeyes last year, he is used to the role as a workhorse, and he is going to be very familiar with the way the Ravens do things, because he took a lot of carries in the RPO scheme. So no one should be shocked if he sees a lot of time, even though the general consensus was that he was no better than the third best back available (and was fifth off the board, by the way).

Another thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was that what the Ravens (with an over / under of 11.5 wins at BetAnySports) got out of the tight ends and running backs in the passing game dwarfed what they got out of wide receivers. Now, this could be a reflection of the strength or accuracy of Jackson's arm, but DeCosta had to do something to give him more to work with.

The result was a couple of "value" selections; guys who were still around after a while, but had great production at the collegiate level. Devin Duvernay of Texas went in Round 3. He caught 106 passes for 1386 yards last year and returned some kicks as well. Over the last two seasons, James Proche has caught 204 passes for over 2400 yards, operating out of Sonny Dykes' Air Raid offense at SMU. What offensive coordinator Greg Roman has designed does not necessarily resemble that, but that really doesn't matter much. Proche, a sixth-round pick, may find plenty of work on a team that needs depth at the wideout spot.

Whether they added any players at all, the Ravens figured to be the favorites in the AFC North anyway. I'm not really sure what to expect out of Pittsburgh. The Cleveland Browns are a lot of promise, and it's unfulfilled so far, and the Cincinnati Bengals are a long way off, even with new QB Joe Burrow.

So at -200 to win the division, they would seem the logical play. Whether they'll pay off on a +700 ticket to win the Super Bowl is something that may, interestingly enough, depend a lot on how much these rookie role players are able to contribute to the offense.

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