Ray Lewis. There are few figures in sport who divide public opinion to the extremes which Lewis does. Love him or hate him, the Baltimore Ravens linebacker performance on the field, and his skills as leader, not only in the locker room, but also in the franchise, are unquestionable.

His announcement that this year’s playoff run would be his ‘last ride’ was something every Baltimore fan knew was coming sooner or later, but few, if any, had prepared themselves to truly accept this as a reality.

Super Bowl XLVII proved to be a fitting farewell for Lewis as the 17-year veteran collected his second Super Bowl trophy in what, barring a dramatic change of heart, was the linebackers last ever game.

Whilst losing a player of Lewis’ caliber could never be seen as a good thing, some of us hope to take a pragmatic approach to his departure, and give Ravens’ fans some positive aspects to focus on. Just in case winning the Super Bowl was already getting a bit old (…)

Most importantly, Baltimore are now an offensive-dominated team. With stars like Joe Flacco, Ray Rice and Torrey Smith on offense, this team is now capable of going head to head with the league’s premier offenses and winning. This has not been the case in Baltimore for Lewis’ entire tenure at the franchise, and should help ease the pains that losing Lewis will cause.

The defense, despite not being at its vintage best this season, is also better equipped now to cope with the loss of Lewis, than it has been in recent years. Inside linebackers Dannell Ellerbe and Jameel McClain are both good enough to start in most NFL teams and will minimize any potential drop off in playing ability on the field.

The loss in leadership cannot be underestimated, Lewis is a ‘once in a generation’ type player, but key players like Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata will be ready to step up and help fill the void. Flacco’s growth in ability and confidence will undoubtedly see him assume the mantle of the teams’ ‘general’.

The Ravens are also facing the challenge of retaining many of their players who are coming to the end of their contracts. The list is long, and includes the likes of Reed, Ellerbe, Paul Kruger, Cary Williams and Bryant McKinnie, not to mention recent Super Bowl MVP, Flacco, who is due a very big contract indeed. Lewis’ departure won’t free up a lot of cap room, but it may be enough to make room for a couple of new contracts for their upcoming free agents.

Having tried to remove as much sentiment as possible from this article, I have to be perfectly honest; the Baltimore Ravens will never be the same again. Lewis’ retirement won’t devastate the franchise, General Manager Ozzie Newsome is too smart of an operator to allow that to happen, but number 52 certainly cannot be replaced. He is one of a kind.

This marks the beginning of a new era for Baltimore. The last of the ‘original Ravens’ is heading off into the horizon. The time is ripe for a new group of players to cement their legacy in ‘Charm City’ and I for one cannot wait to see who steps up to the plate.

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When the likes of Bruce Irving, Brandon Weeden and A. J. Jenkins all went in the first round of the NFL Draft, they guaranteed that certain elite prospects would fall into the second round and become highly sought after commodities when it all kicked off again in New York for the second night of the draft.

The Indianapolis Colts surprised no one by taking Stanford tight end Coby Fleener with their first pick, giving first overall pick Andrew Luck a familiar target in his first season in Indianapolis. They took another tight end in the third round, Dwayne Allen out of Clemson, much to the ire of many other teams with this years’ draft class seemingly stretched thin at the tight end position.

After trading out of the first round, Baltimore Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome seemed to have worked his magic again, taking a legitimate first-round prospect in Courtney Upshaw and a late-first/early-second talent in Kelechi Osemele, both of whom could replace departing starters Jarret Johnson and Ben Grubbs. They also traded up in the third round to secure running back Bernard Pierce in the third, a problem position for Newsome since the retirement of Ricky Williams.

A plethora of other players who were unlucky to not make it into the first round also went early in the second round including Derek Wolfe (Denver Broncos), Andre Branch (Jacksonville Jaguars) Alshon Jeffrey (Chicago Bears) and Peter Konz (Atlanta Falcons).

The Green Bay Packers made a good job of shoring up their defense, taking both Jerel Worthy and Casey Hayward in the second round, arguably the best defensive tackle and cornerback left on the board. They will join first-round selection Nick Perry in giving Green Bay fans hope of an improved defensive performance this season.

Shorn of star cornerback Cortland Finnegan, the St Louis Rams took a big gamble on defensive back Janoris Jenkins out of North Alabama. The youngster was arguably the best corner in this years’ draft class after sixth-overall pick Morris Claiborne, but a number of off-field issues have seen his draft stock plummet since the combine.

Other picks of note included the Carolina Panthers and Buffalo Bills improving their offensive lines with the acquisitions of Amini Silatolu and Cordy Glenn respectively. The Bills will be thrilled with the selection of Glenn who very few experts had falling into the second round, let alone down to the ninth pick in the round.

The two New York-based teams were also keen to improve their offenses, but instead went for wide receivers. The Jets, keen to give Mark Sanchez viable targets, picked up Stephen Hill out of Georgia Tech, and will be hoping his large frame and electric pace are enough to help out Sanchez. He was not the only large wideout to end up in New York, with Rueben Randle going to the Giants with the last pick of the second round, giving the Giants a very formidable looking receiving corps.

Quarterbacks also played a prominent part in both rounds, with the Broncos finding their quarterback of the future, drafting Brock Osweiler who will learn under Peyton Manning for their foreseeable future, and the Seattle Seahawks erased any talk of trading for Colt McCoy when they picked up Russel Wilson in the third round to compliment current QB’s Tavaris Jackson and Matt Flynn. The Philadelphia Eagles also found a viable backup to Michael Vick in Arizona’s Nick Foles.

Image Courtesy of    Baltimore Ravens

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