ROSTER BREAKDOWN; DEPTH CHART UPDATED

By Joe Platania

It's always a proud moment for a parent when a child takes its first steps. It's also an anxious one.

This weekend, 29 of the youngest and newest Ravens -- 21 undrafted free agents and the eight-man draft class, now entirely under contract -- will crawl through three days of a rookie minicamp to try to prove they can at least walk with the veterans when they report to the Palace at Owings Mills for the first of three organized team activity sessions, which begin May 22.

The proud moments will come when the Ravens' brass and fans -- the latter through the requisite few seconds of evening-news footage -- will see players such as top draft pick Courtney Upshaw wearing Baltimore jerseys for the first time.

The anxious moments apply to the minicamp drills themselves, for any misstep, inadvertent collision or other snafu could lead to a promising young talent being lost to the team for an extended period of time, a la the league's reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Terrell Suggs.

Not only that, but with so many questions throughout the depth chart and the scaled-down enthusiasm of the team brass after the draft, it remains to be seen whether the team truly addressed its needs with quality draft picks.

The Ravens begin their offseason on-field activities with 88 players under contract, two shy of the league-mandated 90-man roster limit.

One of the two vacant spots is reserved for franchise free agent and starting running back Ray Rice, who has not yet signed his one-year, $7.7 million franchise tag. He has until July 16 to sign an extended deal, or else he would enter the unrestricted free-agent market at season's end.

The 88 players consist of:

- 59 veterans; unrestricted, restricted and exclusive-rights free agents; and street free agents.

- eight players taken during the NFL Draft.

- 21 undrafted free-agent rookies contacted just after the draft.

Speaking of players under contract, the last three unsigned members of the Ravens' draft class agreed to terms on Thursday.

Top draft pick Upshaw, third-round running back Bernard Pierce and sixth-round receiver Tommy Streeter were the last to come to agreements with the team, but, as anticipated, the new rookie wage scale has drastically cut down on dragged-out, rookie-signing dramatics.

Here are the terms agreed to by this year's Ravens draftees, according to Rotoworld.com:

Second round -- LB Courtney Upshaw: four years, $5.2 million ($3.6 million guaranteed)
Second round -- G/T Kelechi Osemele: four years, $3.3 million ($873,360 signing bonus)
Third round -- RB Bernard Pierce: four years, money unknown ($555,500 signing bonus)
Fourth round -- G/C Gino Gradkowski: four years, $2.5 million ($484,000 signing bonus)

Fourth round -- S Christian Thompson: four years, money unknown (bonus unknown)
Fifth round -- CB/RS Asa Jackson: four years, $2.2 million ($144,560 signing bonus)
Sixth round -- WR Tommy Streeter: four years, $2.1 million ($94,500 signing bonus)
Seventh round -- DE DeAngelo Tyson: four years, $2.1 million ($47,500 signing bonus)

Naturally, these are the rookies with the highest expectations placed on them, being as they had their names called on draft weekend.

Because of that, most of them have found places on our new unofficial depth chart, the last edition of which was published on Ravens Report before the Suggs injury and the signings of players such as wideout/return specialist Jacoby Jones and ex-Ravens nose tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu.

RAVENS' UNOFFICIAL 2012 DEPTH CHART

OFFENSE
WR (X): Torrey Smith, Jacoby Jones, LaQuan Williams
LT: Bryant McKinnie, Michael Oher, Jah Reid
LG: Jah Reid, Kelechi Osemele, Justin Boren
C: Matt Birk, Justin Boren, Gino Gradkowski
RG: Marshal Yanda, Justin Boren, Kelechi Osemele
RT: Michael Oher, Marshal Yanda, Ramon Harewood
TE: Ed Dickson, Dennis Pitta, Davon Drew
QB: Joe Flacco, Tyrod Taylor, Curtis Painter
FB: Vonta Leach, Bruce Figgins, Chad Diehl
RB: Ray Rice, Anthony Allen, Bernard Pierce
WR (Z): Anquan Boldin, Tandon Doss, David Reed

X - denotes split end, or downfield/speed receiver
Z - denotes flanker, or possession receiver

DEFENSE
DE: Arthur Jones, Pernell McPhee, DeAngelo Tyson
NT: Terrence Cody, Ma'ake Kemoeatu, Ryan McBean
DT: Haloti Ngata, Arthur Jones, Bryan Hall
Rush: Courtney Upshaw, Michael McAdoo, Chavis Williams
Will: Jameel McClain, Dannell Ellerbe, Josh Bynes
Mike: Ray Lewis, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Albert McClellan
Sam: Paul Kruger, Courtney Upshaw, Sergio Kindle
CB: Lardarius Webb, Jimmy Smith, Corey Graham
SS: Bernard Pollard, Sean Considine, Emanuel Cook
FS: Ed Reed, Christian Thompson, Emanuel Cook
CB: Cary Williams, Danny Gorrer, Asa Jackson

SPECIAL TEAMS
P: Sam Koch, Justin Tucker
K: Billy Cundiff, Justin Tucker
KO: Billy Cundiff, Sam Koch
H: Sam Koch
LS: Morgan Cox, Patrick Scales
KR: David Reed, Lardarius Webb, Phillip Livas
PR: Jacoby Jones, Lardarius Webb, Asa Jackson

Posted May 11, 2012