Why The Ravens Front 7 Could Be Dominant In 2016

Ben Roethlisberger may want to work on his escape-ability this offseason, because the Ravens are coming for him (and every other quarterback).

The purple and black will terrorize many quarterbacks this season because they have a heaping pile of front seven talent.

It starts up front with a big bruising nose guard in Brandon Williams. Williams is a dominant run-stopper, a space eater on a mission.

At times Timmy Jernigan is an unstoppable force. The 6’2″ 302 pound defensive lineman has only scratched the surface of his potential. Jernigan, who had four sacks in back to back seasons, is poised for a break out season.

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The Ravens have a lot of young talent on their defensive line. Willie Henry was a penetrating defensive tackle at Michigan. He has tons of potential. Carl Davis is a 6’5″ 320 pound freak of nature. Brent Urban is tough as nails and showed promise on the field in 2015.

From a pass rushing perspective the Ravens could be scary good. The Ravens still think they can get greatness out of the combination of Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil. They added Matt Judon and Bronson Kaufusi in the draft. Judon had 20 sacks last season at Grand Valley State and Kaufusi had 10 sacks at BYU.

Kamalei Correa may play at inside linebacker this season but he had 7 sacks at Boise State in 2015. Za’Darius Smith started to find his groove last season. He had 5.5 sacks last in 2015, showing he has a spark.

Last season losing Terrell Suggs was devastating to the entire defense. The Ravens learned from this that they had to have more talent at the outside linebacker position. The Ravens added pass rushers. They added guys who can win one on one battles at the line of scrimmage. They added players that will demand double teams.

If Terrell Suggs is back to his normal self, the defense will reach new heights. You cannot double team everybody. Elvis Dumervil is poised to have a year similar to his 17 sack 2014 campaign. With all the help the Ravens stars should shine. If Suggs does not enter the season ready to roll, the Ravens additions make a nice insurance policy.

The potential combination of C.J. Mosley and Correa as interior linebackers is exciting. Mosley has blossomed into one of the most talented linebackers in football. Both Mosley and Correa have a great deal of athletic ability, versatility and are strong tacklers.

The Ravens front seven could be dominant because they have so many weapons. They have multiple run stoppers, multiple pass rushers and a healthy dose of toughness. They will keep fresh legs rotating in and out of the game. The result is that the defensive unit will have a full spark. There are not many offensive coordinators that will look forward to facing the Ravens.