Ozzie Newsome doesn't give away many secrets to the media, but he does have a reputation of clearly laying out the areas of roster needs during the annual season-review press conference.
Last year he pointed to the interior of the offensive line and wide receiver as spots he wanted to address, and he methodically went about filling those needs over the next few months.
Newsome took a different approach this year.
Rather than naming specific positions to upgrade, Newsome stressed that he wants to build depth across the board.
"Let's build the best 53-man squad and the 10-man practice squad that we can," Newsome said. "What positions we will be looking at, I can't honestly say because we want to build that really, really strong 53-man squad."
A year after finishing 10-6 and making the playoffs despite losing 19 players to injured reserve, Newsome knows the importance of depth.
He saw the Ravens cycle through cornerbacks because of injuries – the Ravens started seven corners over the course of the season – leading to big issues on the back end of the defense. He also saw the offensive line withstand injuries to starting left tackle Eugene Monroe and left guard Kelechi Osemele thanks to solid play from rookies James Hurst and John Urschel.
The depth along the offensive line was an ideal model for positions across the roster.
"I wish I could sit here today and tell you where we are going to have injuries. I have no idea," Newsome said. "But, John and I and his staff and the scouts and Eric [DeCosta, assistant general manager] and Joe [Hortiz, director of college scouting], we are going to work to build the best 53 players we can build and the best practice squad. That will allow us the opportunity to go into the season [prepared], because it's very, very difficult to go out onto the street and get players."
Over the course of Tuesday's press conference, Newsome did indicate that he wants to add a tight end and young running back, and also mentioned "you don't ever have too many good defensive linemen."
That's when Owner Steve Bisciotti and Head Coach John Harbaugh jumped in and joked that teams can also never have too many corners, offensive lineman, receivers or tight ends.
They know Ozzie and the Ravens are in the market for all of those spots, and this offseason is about building that depth across the roster.
"You can never have too many [at any position]," Bisciotti said, "until you run out of money."
