C.J. Mosley deserves to be in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation

Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker C.J. Mosley deserves to be in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation. He’s having a fantastic season.

Now in his fourth year, inside linebacker C.J. Mosley is becoming a bonified star. If you don’t believe that, just watch the tape. In his most recent game, Mosley finished with four total tackles, a 0.5 sack, and a 63-yard pick-six. He’s an all-purpose defensive player that deserves to be in the DPOY conversation.

Mosley has put together a fantastic resume through the first half of the season. He leads the league in total tackles with 51 and is third in combined tackles with 68.  Even with the teams’ defenses struggles because of injuries, Mosley has been a consistent threat in the middle. Open running lates or not, he finds a way to get to the ball carrier and does it quite a lot.

But it’s not Mosley’s run stuffing ability, his ability to cover the pass is even more impressive.

Pass coverage just at impressive

Offenses love to plan around matchups with linebackers. When a running back, tight end or wide receiver get matched up on one, it almost always advantages to the offense. That’s not the case when Mosley is on the field. In the past two seasons, Mosley has increasingly improved in pass coverage and it’s paying dividends for him and the Ravens defense.

Compared to two interceptions in his first two seasons, Mosley has six through the last season and a half. Because he’s not matched up on a receiver every single play, it’s even more impressive when he comes away with an interception.

Just take his pick-six against the Dolphins for example. Mosley tipped a Matt Moore pass at the line of scrimmage, caught the ball himself and went 63-yards for the score.

We can also see this incredible pass coverage on a perfect read against Andy Dalton in the opening game of the season. What looked like an easy touchdown throw for Dalton was taken away by Mosley. It was a touchdown saver and one of the ten turnovers the Ravens defense forced in the first two weeks of the season.

There are only a select few of linebackers that can bring this kind of impact in pass coverage. The other ones that do aren’t as good against the run as Mosley is. Like everyone has said, he’s half-man, half-amazing and that’s been the case this season.

The bottom line

While Everson Griffen and Calais Campbell lead the DPOY conversation with their sack numbers, C.J. Mosley deserves to be in the mix. He’s quickly developing into one of the best inside linebackers in the league. You can harp on Ozzie Newsome for his draft misses, but this certainly wasn’t one.

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With Brandon Williams and Carl Davis back up front, the Ravens defense is slowly returning to its normal self. If those two can stay healthy up front, it will continue to open up plenty of open lanes for Mosley. He’s been incredible through the first half of the season and if that continues over the next eight games, it’s another trip to the Pro Bowl and a potential DPOY award at the end of the season.