Getty Ravens OLB David Ojabo expects to take a big leap in his second season.
It has been over half a decade since the Baltimore Ravens last had a defender eclipse or even reach double figures in sacks. The last player to do it was future Hall of Fame outside linebacker and the franchise’s all-time sack leader, Terrell Suggs who recorded 11 in the 2017 season.
They’ve had a handful of pass rushers come close since then with three-time Pro Bowler Za’Darius Smith logging 8.5 the following year in 2018 and four-time Pro Bowlers Matt Judon and Justin Houston both coming up just shy with 9.5 in 2019 and 2022 respectively.
After spending most of his rookie season rehabbing and working his way back from a torn Achilles tendon he suffered at a Pro day, second-year outside linebacker David Ojabo believes that he can be the first Ravens defender to cross the double-digit sack threshold.
“If we’re talking just factually, double-digits (sacks) is all I know,” he said on The Lounge podcast via the team website. “Just go get the ball, get the quarterback, and win games.”
Despite knowing that his untimely injury would cost him most if not all of his first year, the Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta decided to select the former University of Michigan standout at No. 45 overall in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft anyway. He was projected to be a top 15 and possibly even top 10 pick last year after an impressive breakout season with the Wolverines in 2021 in which he recorded a career-high 11 sacks.
Since he redshirted as a freshman and played in just one game as a sophomore in shortened 2020 season due to the pandemic, his junior year was the only season he really got to show what he can do and Ojabo absolutely made the most of it.
Strip sack @UMichFootball!
The Wolverines recover in great field position
He was one of the stars and brightest standouts from the Ravens’ offseason program and believes that the coaching staff is seeing him at 100 percent for the first time since college.
“Get used to it,” Ojabo said. “I feel great put there. Feeding off me and (Odafe Oweh) doing our thing. Building chemistry (with) our whole (defensive) line honestly.”
Familiar Coach’s Scheme Will Be Key to His Breakout
Prior to rejoining the Ravens coaching staff last year as the successor to Don ‘Wink’ Martindale as defensive coordinator under head coach John Harbaugh, second-year play-caller Mike Macdonald served in the same role at Michigan under Jim Harbaugh for the 2021 season.
That was where he was first introduced to Ojabo and became the orchestrator of his breakout season. In his first crack at designing and calling plays, Macdonald helped the Wolverines field one of the best defenses in the nation that saw a pair of its starters hear their names called in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft and had Ojabo not gotten injured, it definitely would’ve added one more to the total.
Ojabo recalled a conversation that he had with Macdonald during a walk-through prior to the 2021 season that he described as a “pivotal moment” and one in which he knew that his junior year was going to be special.
“He pulled me to the side and said ” Aye look come here, we’re going to have fun, you’re going to get 10-plus sacks, and get out of here’,” Ojabo said. “I said ‘Alright, say no more’.”
Macdonald made good on his promise and helped Ojabo realize his potential with a sensational season and he’s “trusted his vision ever since”. While he spent the vast majority of his rookie year working his way back from injury, he was able to see the field for 21 defensive snaps in two games per PFR and record the first sack and forced fumble of his career on the same play.
FIRST SACK FOR OJABO AND GETS THE STRIP 👑
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He feels like his coach’s scheme “really enables” edge defenders to be versatile, use an array of pass-rush moves, and “be free”.
“With the addition of (outside linebackers coach) Chuck Smith and his wisdom and his energy, the sky is the limit honestly,” Ojabo said. “Coach Mike’s scheme is what allows us to be ourselves.”
Ojabo Expects Defense to ‘Go Put On a Show’ in 2023
The 23-year-old edge defender is one of several promising young players that will join forces with the proven veterans on the roster to form what is expected to be one of the better defensive units in the league this upcoming season considering their talent and a strong finish to the 2022 season. He believes that they “all feed off each other” and can’t wait to prove it on the field.
“You just feel it when everybody’s clicking,” Ojabo said. “I feel that’s what we have in the locker room now. We just gotta put it on paper. Can’t talk too much, that’s how people get caught up. Don’t talk about it, man. When the pads come on, when the lights come on, when it’s showtime, go put on a show.”
The Ravens are loaded with talent at all three levels of their defense from front to back. On the defensive line, they have another potential breakout candidate in fourth-year pro Justin Madubuike and a pair of hulking nose tackles in second-year pro Travis Jones and veteran Michael Pierce.
In the middle, they have perhaps the best inside-linebacker tandem in the entire league with First-Team All-Pro Roquan Smith and former first-rounder Patrick Queen. The secondary features three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey, underrated ball-hawking free safety Marcus Williams, and 2022 first-rounder Kyle Hamilton who is also primed for a standout second season.
Ojabo is glad to be healthy and can’t wait to quell all concerns about his ability post-injury that he’s “tired” of addressing.
“It’s going to be part of my story but I don’t want when they think about Ojabo they think about Achilles or think about injury,” he said. “I know it’s God’s plan, man, so I’m not thinking about it — ‘Man, he lost millions, man, he fell out of the top 10.’ Guess what, I’m still playing football. You know I’m going to get what I need to get. So, I’m tired of hearing about the injury and, you know, put it in my past and move forward to get to work.”
As much as he’d like to be the first Ravens player to reach double figures in sacks since T-Sizzle seven years ago, Ojabo said he doesn’t like “putting numbers on things” because, in the end, football is a “team sport”.
“I’m going to do what I need to do to help this team win and go all the way,” he said.