What's going on at the castle?

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Usually at this time of year over at the castle, iron can be heard clanging and music blaring as the players begin their voluntary workouts. However, due to this year's lockout, the players' side of the Ravens Owings Mills facility is unusually quiet. While the players might not be around, the Ravens staff is certainly hard at work preparing for Baltimore's next draft class. 

According to the Baltimore Ravens website, Harbaugh preparing for the draft is a lot of work especially when you also have to be prepared for free agency to start at any second. 

“We’re doing the draft,” Head Coach John Harbaugh told reporters last week in New Orleans. “You always feel like you’re catching up on the draft. Secondly, you have to be ready for free agency because you don’t know what that process is going to be and when it’s going to happen.”

The coaches have not been allowed to contact the players and have spent their time watching films of their college prospects, reviewing every play from the Ravens' 2010 season and trying to work on their plans and schemes for the 2011 season. Coaches are having offensive, defensive and special teams meetings to create what they want the units' schemes to look like in the upcoming season. 

“The element that is not there right now is the half of the day that you’re with your players,” Harbaugh said. “This is an opportunity for us to strip everything down and build everything up from the ground floor, which you really want to do every year anyway. But it’s really hard to find the time to do that.”