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3 Ravens That Can Boost Team In 2016

By Chris Schisler

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Oct 12, 2014; Tampa, FL, USA; Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil (58) celebrates as he high fives fans after they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Baltimore Ravens defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48-17. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 12, 2014; Tampa, FL, USA; Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil (58) celebrates as he high fives fans after they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Baltimore Ravens defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 48-17. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Ravens Need 3 Of Their Stars To Turn It Around In 2016

The Baltimore Ravens were 5-11 this past season, which means there is a lot of room for improvement. All across the board, it wasn’t the greatest season for the Ravens stars. Half of them got injured, the rest of them underperformed (or got forced into a different role due to an injury). This morning, we are going to take a look at three Ravens stars, whose turnaround 2016 season can boos the team towards another playoff run. Since I am not a morning person, we’re going to get right to the point:

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Elvis Dumervil

The dominant Elvis Dumervil didn’t go anywhere. I know after a six sack performance in 2015 that it looks like a down year for number 58. Dumervil is still capable of replicating his 17 sack 2014 campaign. The biggest problem for Dumervil last season was the absence of Terrell Suggs. Suggs went down in the first week of the season (the first sign that 2015 would be a year to forget). This created two problems for the former Bronco pass rusher:

  1. Without Suggs, teams were able to focus on stopping Dumervil. With Suggs in the lineup, offensive coordinators are put in a pick your poison situation. Without Suggs in the lineup, Dumervil is a one man wrecking crew and there is no way opponents are going to let him do the wrecking.
  2. Suggs did a lot of the gritty work in the trenches. Dumervil couldn’t focus on pass rushing as much as he’d like to. The Ravens asked him to be a well rounded football player, and to his credit, Dumervil was. The sack numbers went down, but there wasn’t a slip in performance.

So here’s the deal. If the Ravens get Terrell Suggs back in full force, Dumervil will be a force to be reckoned with. It seems unlikely that the Ravens won’t bolster their pass rush in the NFL Draft. Plus a guy like Za’Darius Smith could take the next step at the outside linebacker position. Either way, the Ravens will likely be better overall at the outside linebacker position opposite of the king of making quarterbacks roll, Elvis Dumervil. This means that the sack totals are going up. This means big plays are coming on the defensive side of the football.

Next: Justin Forsett

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