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Baltimore Ravens don’t draft an edge rusher: 3 big things

By Chris Schisler

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces a pick by the Baltimore Ravens (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announces a pick by the Baltimore Ravens (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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ARLINGTON, TX – APRIL 26: A video board displays the text “THE PICK IS IN” for the Baltimore Ravens during the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium on April 26, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX – APRIL 26: A video board displays the text “THE PICK IS IN” for the Baltimore Ravens during the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium on April 26, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

The Baltimore Ravens were expected to draft an edge rusher in the 2020 NFL Draft. They did not. What should we make out of this? Here are three big things to think about:

The Baltimore Ravens didn’t draft an edge rusher in the 2020 NFL Draft. They will go into the season with Matt Judon, Tyus Bowser and Jaylon Ferguson as their main grouping at outside linebacker. It is worth noting that the Ravens did according to reports, sign Chauncey Rivers as an undrafted free agent. Rivers has some potential and it was almost surprising to see him go undrafted. The fact that the Ravens didn’t address the outside linebacker spot in the NFL Draft is quite surprising. After what seems like thousands of mock drafts, just about none of them had the Ravens ignoring pass rushers off the edge. Let’s break this down.

1. The Ravens have a decent amount of pass rush on the roster:

The Ravens have a decent amount of pass rushers on the roster, it just happens to be that a lot of it comes in the form of defensive linemen. Calais Campbell is a defensive end who will play mostly as a five technique in this defense. At 6’8″ though he almost counts as an edge rusher and will line up outside in the seven technique at times in this defense. Campbell is coming off a season where he had six and a half sacks. He had double digit sacks in 2018 and 2017. Since his second season in the league, Campbell has never had less than five sacks.

Derek Wolfe should help bring some interior pass rush to the Ravens. Wolfe is coming off a seven sack season and he has 33 sacks in his career. In the last two years at Texas A&M Madubuike has totaled 11 sacks. Interior pass rush is all the sudden a strength. Matt Judon should have improved success playing with an improved defensive line. Judon had 9.5 sacks this past season. Tyus Bowser and Jaylon Ferguson were more productive as the 2019 season went on.

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So here’s the deal, the pass rushing situation in Baltimore isn’t bleak. The Ravens may be going about it a different way than you want them to, yet they are not ignoring the need of getting after the passer. It should also be noted that Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison are coming into the league as very good blitzing linebackers. The Ravens are obviously not worried. A free agent signing at outside linebacker is still very possible however the pass rush shouldn’t be as problematic as people are making it out to be.

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