Wednesday Ravens links: Eric DeCosta's feel for the draft, opportunity to improve on offense

Ravens assistant general manager Eric DeCosta loves the draft.

It's essentially what his job description entails. He's responsible for putting together the draft board and evaluating these guys. Ultimately, Ozzie Newsome makes the final call, but DeCosta plays a very important role. He's so in tune with the process that he pretty much has a knack for who the Ravens will likely be able to take in the first round of this year's draft.

BaltimoreRavens.com's Ryan Mink writes that DeCosta has a feeling that the Ravens will be able to get one of three players in the first round on Thursday.

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We could re-hash it but why bother. I'll sum it up like this: The offense was dreadful in 2013.

But with an offseason and a draft, optimism arises. A team like the Ravens, with a great reputation in the front office, should be able to fix the problems that plagued them a season ago. Offense was bothersome, with the running game stagnant and the passing game inconsistent.

With Gary Kubiak on board, The Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck writes that the Ravens must continue to address the offensive side of the ball in this draft, to help get this team back to where it was in the 2012 postseason.

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Baltimore Sports and Life's Mike Randall took a look at the 2009 Ravens draft and assigned a grade in hindsight of how things wound up working out.