The Baltimore Ravens Have Two Young Pass Rushers
Last season the Baltimore Ravens invested a fourth round pick in Za’Darius Smith, and he had 5.5 sacks in his rookie season. Tonight, the Ravens drafted Kamalei Correa, an outside linebacker from Boise State. The Ravens may have found their pass rushers for the future.
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Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil are both in their early 30’s. Suggs is coming off his second devastating leg injury. While both veteran linebackers are expected to play a large role for the Ravens in 2016, inserting young talent at this position is very wise.
The Ravens now have two young players who can eventually replace the Ravens superstars. Smith is an explosive player. He is the guy you have pin his ears back and fly to the quarterback. Correa is more of a complete player than Smith. He is a decent pass rusher but he is also a great run stuffer.
Both players have a promising amount of talent. With good coaching and development these are two players who give the Ravens hope for the future. That being said, they will both make an impact as rotational players in 2016. It is also a great insurance policy for two aging pass rushers.
The Ravens know what they like at the outside linebacker position. Correa fits the Jarrett Johnson mold, yet he has much more potential as a pass rusher. Smith is a player that fits more in the Dumervil role. The Ravens needed to get another player to rush the passer. When Suggs went down last season, the Ravens never recovered. Baltimore learned that you can never have enough talent at this position.
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These are two young players to watch going forward. The Ravens took care of a need in this draft. The Ravens pick of Correa may go under the radar; it was not a blockbuster move. That said, it was a strong pick. The Ravens now have a plan for the future at the outside linebacker position.