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The Baltimore Ravens committed a lot of resources and their highest pick in the NFL Draft toward improving the wide receiver position this offseason with the additions of veteran Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor and rookie Zay Flowers.
While the aerial arsenal at franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson’s disposal got a major upgrade since the 2022 season ended, one of their most perceived glaring weakness is in the pass rush department and specifically on the edge at outside linebacker.
The young position group came in at No. 6 on the top 10 list of biggest remaining roster holes in the league for 2023 as it currently stands according to NFL.com’s Kevin Patra.
“Baltimore spent the offseason stocking up on offensive weapons for Lamar Jackson, but the defensive front has serious questions,” he wrote.
He noted that 2021 first-round pick Odafe Oweh “took a step back” in his second season last year and “will look to rebound this fall” while 2022 second-rounder David Ojabo had most of his rookie year “wiped out” by a pre-draft injury.
Patra believes that the team is planning to rely “heavily” on the former Michigan product with just three games of experience under his belt including the postseason to produce after losing two of their top three sack leaders from last season.
They released six-time Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell who had 5.5 sacks as a salary cap casualty and he is now with the Atlanta Falcons. Four-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker Justin Houston remains unsigned by choice after leading the team with 9.5 sacks in a resurgent 2023 season.
“Could a Houston reunion be in the cards? It wouldn’t be a surprise if general manager Eric DeCosta added multiple veterans at some point to round out a group lacking in depth and playmakers,” Patra wrote.
Edge Cupboard is Light But Not Bare
While Patra is correct in his assertion that the Ravens are lacking in depth at outside linebacker and could greatly benefit from adding another experienced player or two at the position, where he’s off the mark is stating that the group as currently constructed lacks playmakers.
Even though they’re relatively unproven commodities in terms of years in the league and career sack totals, Oweh and Ojabo are two of the most freakishly athletically gifted edge defenders to enter the NFL in recent memory.
The only reason they both weren’t first-round picks was due to Ojabo tearing his Achilles at his pro day, otherwise, he would’ve been a virtual lock to come off the board in the top 15 picks instead of falling all the way to No. 45 overall in the second round.
They have the potential to develop into the next great pass-rush duo for the Ravens that they haven’t had since Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil joined forces from 2013-2015 and combined for 57.5 sacks over that span. Suggs played just one game in their last year together after suffering a torn Achilles in the season opener.
Oweh showed a tremendous amount of promise as a rookie where he recorded five sacks and came up with several impressive splash plays. Even though his numbers in year two dipped a bit, he was still impactful and come on strong down the stretch once he started rushing more from inside as well as out on the edge.
Although Ojabo appeared in just a handful of games at the end of the year and played a limited amount of snaps, he displayed explosive flashes and difference-making potential as well. He recorded his first career sack and forced fumble on the same play against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 18.
There is also six-year veteran Tyus Bowser who is the most experienced of the bunch with 89 career games and 19.5 sacks under his belt according to Pro Football Reference. He is capable of impacting the game in a multitude of ways and especially excels in coverage, making him one of the best 3-4 SAM outside linebackers in the league when healthy.
He missed the first eight games of last season while he recovered from his own torn Achilles suffered in the team’s 2021 regular-season finale and showed will be more than a year and a half removed from the injury by the time the season starts.
The Ravens selected a rookie edge defender Tavius Robinson out of Ole Miss in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft and he possesses the positional flexibility to line up and rush the passer from inside and out.
All four of them provide the Ravens with a more than solid foundation at the position which is two times more than they had after final roster cuts ahead of last season when they had just two in Oweh and Houston.
The hiring of renowned pass-rush guru Chuck Smith as the new outside linebackers coach this offseason will also be tremendously helpful in raising the game of the team’s edge and interior pass rushers.
Best Available Veteran Egde Options That Fit Ravens
While the market for established edge rushers has begun to heat up in recent weeks with the signings of Leonard Floyd to the Buffalo Bills and Frank Clark to the Denver Broncos, there are still several experienced players at the position that have yet to be signed and would be good fits in Baltimore at the right price. They currently have just over $10.5 million in available cap space according to spotrac.com.
Justin Houston
Even at 34 years old, he proved that in the right rotational role, he can still be a dominant disruptive force. Training camp has been around the time he signed with the Ravens in each of the last two years so bringing the future Hall of Famer back just might be the ace up DeCosta’s sleeve when it’s all said and done by the team Week 1 rolls around.
Melvin Ingram
The former first-round pick and 11-year veteran possesses a similarly impressive versatile skillset to Bowesr and would be great as the primary backup to him at the SAM spot since that specific role is difficult to find. He recorded six sacks, 10 quarterback hits, and seven tackles for loss with Miami Dolphins last year per PFR.
Jadeveon Clowney
The three-time Pro Bowler and nine-year veteran has been linked to the Ravens for years and even though he has yet to deliver on the immense pass rush potential that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, he still has a baseline of being a great run defender. His upside as a pass rusher could get unlocked by being coached full-time by Smith aka Dr. Rush. Clowney recorded just two sacks, four quarterback hits, and four tackles for loss with the Cleveland Browns last year per PFR.
Yannick Ngakoue
Not all reunions are meant to be or make sense but this one does given the seven-year veteran’s ability to consistently apply pressure and bring down opposing quarterbacks. He played nine games for the Ravens in 2020 after being acquired in a midseason trade but wasn’t re-signed the following offseason. Ngakoue has recorded eight or more sacks every year he’s been in the league per PFR since being drafted in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Maryland and led the Indianapolis Colts with 9.5 last year.
Carlos Dunlap
The two-time Pro Bowler fresh off his first career Super Bowl run with exactly 100 career sacks might be in the same boat or mode as Houston and is likely going to wait until the start or middle of training camp to sign somewhere. He recorded four sacks, 12 quarterback hits, and eight batted passes in 17 games with the Kansas City Chiefs last year per PFR.
Jason Pierre-Paul
This reunion would make sense given that the three-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champion played 14 games for the Ravens last year and would provide both quality depth and veteran leadership. He recorded just three sacks in 13 starts last year but was extremely stout against the run and logged five tackles for loss as well per PFR.
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