Why Terrell Suggs will be the Defensive Player of the Year

If Terrell Suggs isn’t a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame already, he will be by the end of this season:

Terrell Suggs was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2011, so topping the best year of his career won’t be easy. In 2011, Suggs recorded 14 sacks. The Ravens defense hasn’t been the same since that season. In 2012 the Ravens defense started to slip out of the dominant realm; remember Joe Flacco had an awful lot to do with the Super Bowl. For the first time since 2011, Suggs is on a truly dominant defense. He might be the Defensive Player of the Year again.

Suggs is the premier pass rusher in a group of really talented outside linebackers. Matt Judon, Tyus Bowser, Za’Darius Smith when he gets healthy, maybe even Tim Williams are all going to get snaps at outside linebacker. They all can win battles on the edges.

The Ravens defense has so much talent it’s silly. The front seven is loaded and blocking everybody is just impossible. Michael Pierce and Brandon Williams dominate inside. In fact Pro Football Focus ranked Pierce and Williams as two of the top four interior defensive linemen from week 1.

Suggs could end the season with 14 sacks, he may even be able to get more than that. The Ravens defensive linemen come in waves and almost every one of them can demand double teams. Suggs is used to seeing extra attention. Just doing the math, Suggs will have less double teams than ever before. With this many players to block, double teams just create chances for other players.

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In a world of one on one match-ups, Suggs is going to make play after play. He can win off the edge every which way. Whether it’s speed, power or a combination of both, he can trouble every  offensive tackle in the game of football.

Suggs had two sacks and a forced fumble in the first game of the season. He showed a burst that we haven’t seen for a couple of seasons. Suggs is getting older, but he is in incredible shape. I don’t know if it was the injuries that he’s battled in the past two seasons, or the potential of the team around him, but Suggs is clearly in the best shape of his career. The way he fired off the ball in the game against the Bengals was incredible.

The Ravens have a lot of good players but Suggs is an all-time great. Suggs is one of the best players to ever play his position. Players like Suggs come around once in a lifetime. Just like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, once Suggs retires, we’ll never see a player that is quite like him. There will be players who can do similar things, none of them will encompass everything that Suggs is.

The Bottom Line:

Suggs is to this defense what Ray Lewis was to the 2000 defense. He is the leader and he sparks the entire unit. There is one difference though. In 2000 Ray Lewis started to become a living legend, but he was only in his fifth season. In 2017 Suggs is a chiseled player who has seen 15 years of NFL football. He could retire today and be remembered forever as a legend. This could be the year that Suggs leads an all-time great defense like Lewis did 17 years ago.

Next: Ravens vs. Browns: Notes from studying the Browns

The players on this Ravens defense are incredible. Suggs is the biggest star on an incredibly star studded defense. The Ravens defense is going to make big plays all year long. Suggs will be at the center of everything. This season will be the best year he has ever had. This isn’t just about Suggs. It boils down to the fact that he is the best player on the best defense in the NFL.