First, I care about you folks reading this. To prove it I have a fainting couch available 24/7. I am sure a few of you will need it just from the thread title. :)

Yes the offense sucks with some major holes in it. But the defense also has some serious problems was we saw with them regularly giving up late fourth quarter TD's this year. If the defense didn't do that we'd be in the playoffs even with a sucky offense. So while I am not saying that Ozzie must go defense first and last, he must address at least some of the problems on that side of the ball.

Honestly I am satisfied with the play of the defense this year because with the amount of turnover the team needed to let happen from an already very average defense it could have been much worse. But overhauling the defense is a multiyear project; we can't just say that the defense dominated last year's draft so it is now the offense's turn. Not if you want to field a competitive team next year. I am not asking to find final solutions to the defense in the draft but hopefully some of the holes can be addressed and the team can get back to having real depth again. Let's look further by position group.

Safety- Two problems here. 1) There is no depth behind the starters. Omar, Trawick, and Levine should make you remember fondly the Nakamura and Zibby years in terms of depth. Remember when the team could start a Jim Leonard-quality safety when a starter got hurt? We were extremely lucky this year that Elam and Ihedigbo didn't get hurt. Gambling on that happening two years in a row is just asking for it. We need depth here.

2) The bigger problem through is that we don't have a free safety since Michael Huff flamed out. Elam and Ihedigbo tried their darndest and Elam has a long futrure with the club as a starter but we need a real free safety. And if Ihedigbo gets a better contract elsewhere then the team is in serious difficulty. Given the cap position it makes sense to at least look at the draft to help with this problem. It is unlikely that the team will draft Clinton-Dix in round 1 but there are other safeties that the team should look at. Guys like Bailey, Boston, Ladler, Whitely, and Brooks.

Cornerback- Seems like if the team loses Corey Graham in free agency then definitely they will be looking for a young replacement. That becomes all the more clear when realizing that Jimmy Smith will command big bucks to stay on the team the year after and we might not have the cash to pay him. One other thing: you hear from various pundits like say Daniel Jeremiah that CB is an absolute position of weakness on the team. Cb is a deep position this year so one could imagine that even if the team keeps Graham that they draft a CB in rounds 2-5.

Inside linebacker- Oy vey. The Ravens got away with duct tape and bailing twine at ILB this year. We had Darrel Smith (good vs the pass, good defensive play caller, average at best vs the run, plus is way over 30) who is going to free agency, and really not much else. I'm not writing off Arthur Brown but so far he's clueless as to what to do. He's chasing the game. The lightbulb hasn't gone on for him like it has for Elam. Bynes and McClain (he of the bloated contract and should be cut this offseason) are pretty useless vs the pass. We need another ILB.

You'd have to think that if CJ Mosley is unpicked by the time the Ravens pick that Ozzie would look long and hard at pulling the trigger, even with the offensive needs. But if the team gets to round 2 and later and needs a ILB there are a few that could help out. Skov would be a great compliment to Brown going forward. Chris Borland and Christian Jones also should provide value for next year if picked in rounds 2 or 3. There's a few other mid-to-late round picks that could work out as well.

Defensive line- Most likely we are losing Art Jones. Terrance Cody should also be allowed to leave. We do have Kapron Lewis-Moore next year. I can imagine then that the team would like another mid-to-late round DL guy, preferably one who can push the pocket.

OLB- Let's say Suggs comes back. That would leave this position group with the best depth and quality of all of the defense. That's good. But Suggs and Dumervil are both over 30-something to keep in mind and would be a factor if the team were to let Suggs go. Would the team then be copasetic with Hamilton and Simon moving into the rotation? One other thing: Upshaw didn't really improve in his sophmore year. I am not advocating that we do something personal-wise about that but it is something to be aware of when next year starts. I hope he gets competition is what I am saying.

There. This post is more to open the discussion of defensive solutions in the draft. I'm still on board for a Mike Evans in round 1. I hope that Rick Wagner is viewed by the team as Oher's replacement, but it is hope cause none of us here can say with anything close to positive conviction that Wagner will be ready. And if not we have to draft an OT by day 2 at the latest. Somewhere though we will draft multiple defenders. As Bill Walsh said, you can scheme offense to do better but you absolutely need talent on defense to do well.