The old saying that Super Bowl contenders are built through the draft, not free agency, took another turn this past season with the Baltimore Ravens defeating the San Francisco 49ers for the Lombardi Trophy in February. For the most part, both teams were built through the draft. In fact, a combined 74 percent of their active rosters in the Super Bowl represented home-grown talent.
Other playoff teams such as the: Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans also utilized that model to get to the second season.
With that in mind, there are plenty of contenders that are entering the draft later this month who need to ace the annual event. They have a ton of needs on both sides of the ball and must be spot on in order to maintain their level of excellency. Lets take a look at three such teams.
Baltimore Ravens
While general manager Ozzie Newsome has done everything he could possibly do to make up for an unenviable salary cap situation, Baltimore needs to get four or five players who will contribute immediately as rookies. Its needs include: cornerback, safety, inside linebacker, defensive and, wide receiver and offensive tackle.
The loss of Anquan Boldin to San Francisco in a trade last month left a huge hole in the passing game for newly extended Joe Flacco, who relied a great deal on the vet. Torrey Smith possesses a ton of upside, but he isn't a true No. 1 receiving option. Heck, not many receivers can provide the consistent target that we saw from Boldin over the last few seasons with the Ravens.
Our very own Nick Slegel as well as myself have Baltimore going with Keenan Allen with the 31st pick in the draft. Allen is the closest to Boldin in terms of build and could easily turn into that No. 1 target for Flacco. In addition, he is the most pro-ready wide receiver in the entire draft.
Outside of wide receiver, Baltimore needs to find a replacement for future Hall of Famer Ray Lewis. As the best inside linebacker to ever play the game, it won't be able to simply insert a rookie in there and move on. That being said, the Lewis of 2012 left a whole lot to be desired. The Ravens could replace his production and even find an upgrade with the likes of Manti' Teo, Arthur Brown or Kevin Minter.
Offensive tackle will be tricky too. We are not sure if Bryant McKinnie will return to the Ravens in 2013. Once they made the decision to move Michael Oher to his more natural position of right tackle late last season, the Ravens offensive line started to gel much more than earlier in the year. Simply put, Oher is better suited to play along the right side of the line. Though, it's important to note that the Ravens will not be able to get an immediate left tackle at 32. If someone like Lane Johnson falls to the middle of the first round, I can easily see them trading up. Other options, who are more of the project variety include: Terron Armstead, Kyle Long and D.J. Fluker.
Baltimore also lost cornerback Cary Williams to the Philadelphia Eagles in free agency. Lardarius Webb is coming off a serious injury and Jimmy Smith was one of the worst cover corners in the NFL this past season. In fact, Baltimore currently has Corey Graham slotted in as its No. 2 corner opposite Webb. Graham has been a special teams standout during his NFL career, but isn't a starter. These are all areas that Baltimore needs to address earlier in the draft later this month.
Green Bay Packers
As a team that doesn't go out on the free-agent market and spend a lot of money, the Packers rely heavily on building through the draft. Their additions of Nick Perry, Jerel Worthy and Casey Hayward gave their defensive a bit more youth this past season with Hayward being the standout performer. Heck, even Terrell Manning possesses a ton of upside.
This doesn't mean that the Packers don't have to address that side of the ball. They need a true cover safety next to either Morgan Burnett or M.D. Jennings in the back end of their defense. Equally as important, Green Bay could use a real zero tech in its 3-4 scheme, as it seems B.J. Raji just isn't the answer there. Outside of that, the Packers seem pretty set in terms of needing immediate production. They could use some depth at defensive end.
Interestingly enough, it's the offensive side of the ball that might be the focus here. Evan Dietrich-Smith couldn't even beat out a washed up Jeff Saturday in training camp and only move to center when the aformentioned Saturday performed like the worst center in the NFL. Needless to say, this should be an area of concern moving forward. The good news here is that the center class, while not top heavy, has five starter-capable prospects. It starts with Barrett Jones from Alabama, but even someone like Khaled Holmes in the mid rounds could be a nice get.
It is also important to note that Green Bay could use upgrades at both tackle and guard. While it did spend first-round picks on Bryan Bulaga and Derek Sherrod in two consecutive drafts, neither have really lived up to expectations. Bulaga graded out 50th overall among tackles in pass protection this past season, while Sherrod has yet to start a single game in two seasons. Someone like Terron Armstead or Kyle Long could make sense in the second round.
Their lack of movement in free agency might not be too bad of philosophy, but with it comes the necessity to ace the draft. The Packers will need to do this in 2013 if they hope to contend with the top teams in a ridiculously top-heavy NFC.
San Francisco 49ers
No, the 49ers don't have a whole heck of a lot of needs. The areas of concern, outside of free safety, seemed to have been addressed in free agency or via trade. This still doesn't mean they don't have to hit on the draft. They have 13 picks in 2013, which is a representation of how general manager Trent Baalke views the importance of the draft. With so many picks and a small number of needs, San Francisco really does need to get some impact players. Even if they sign Charles Woodson, the 49ers still need a free safety of the future to replace Dashon Goldson. The obvious scenario would be for them to trade up in the initial round to get Kenny Vaccaro. Though, there are some other solid options in the form of Eric Reid, D.J. Swearinger and Phillip Thomas that could be available a bit later.
Other areas of concern (at least in terms of depth) are inside linebacker, zero-tech defensive tackle, defensive end, strong safety, tight end and center. San Francisco will have the pick of the litter when it comes to these positions as well as the ability to trade up for target players. With so many picks, there is no excuse for San Francisco not to ace this draft. If they don't, fans should be concerned.