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Plugging the Holes: AFC North

Safety Matt Elam was beatable during his rookie season, and the Ravens are thin behind him. Evan Habeeb/USA TODAY Sports

NFC East | NFC North | NFC South | NFC West
AFC East | AFC North | AFC South | AFC West

In this post-draft edition of Plugging the Holes, Football Outsiders will look at the largest remaining personnel needs of every team, going division by division.

Tuesday's edition examines the AFC North.

Baltimore Ravens: Secondary depth

Baltimore has done a fine job of replacing the massive amount of talent lost after winning Super Bowl XLVII. This offseason has been much quieter for Ozzie Newsome, but he did add the vocal Steve Smith to a talented receiving corps that should be better by health alone. Last year, both Jacoby Jones and Dennis Pitta suffered injuries. Pitta especially should rejuvenate the tight end position, and Owen Daniels was a good insurance signing. While the offensive line might be shaky, last year's in-season trade with Jacksonville for tackle Eugene Monroe will start paying dividends when he's not trying to learn the offense on the fly and has a full offseason under new offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak.

The heart of the team is still on defense, even without Ray Lewis. The front seven is led by a strong core of veterans, including Haloti Ngata, Terrell Suggs, Daryl Smith and Elvis Dumervil. Newsome has gone defense-heavy in the past two drafts, and getting Lardarius Webb back last year (ACL injury in 2012) was a big boost.