Baltimore Ravens: 4 ways to fix a weakened pass rush

The Baltimore Ravens pass rush took a major hit to start off the Free Agency period of the 2021 offseason, but they can fix the unit with these four moves.

Free Agency Frenzy is off to a bad start for the Baltimore Ravens edge-rushing core after seeing both Matt Judon and Yannick Ngakoue move on to new teams with sweet new deals. Because of this, the team is now hurting very much for pass rushers. Here are four moves the team can/should make to fix a now lackluster edge-rushing room.

Bring back Tyus Bowser:

Perhaps we haven’t yet seen the best of Tyus Bowser, but he looked like a much-improved player in 2020 than the one we saw over his first three seasons in the league. Bowser was a far more well-rounded defender in 2020 and the Ravens seemed to finally have a firm and established role for him as a backup. Bowser also showed off some great coverage abilities, which we’ve had a feeling since college that he would have just that.

Unfortunately, Bowser is currently sitting on the open market after having such a solid year. Fortunately, he remains unsigned to this point and is a prime candidate for Baltimore to bring back.

Bowser is intimately familiar with how the Ravens do business defensively and that already gives him some major brownie points on coming back. Bowser also won’t cost an arm and a leg to bring back financially, so there’s more incentive there to get a deal done. All in all, Bowser is someone who makes a lot of sense to bring back on a short and/or cheap deal. Resigning Bowser should be the first priority move for Baltimore to make for its edge rush.

Sign an underrated free agent:

The Ravens don’t need to go crazy on signing multiple big names to fix its pass rush even after losing two Pro Bowlers (although there is one name we’ll touch on in a second to throw some money at). Instead, the team can target a few underrated contributors to add to their front who won’t cost an arm and a leg to bring in.

Among the pass rushers on the market, Carlos Dunlap may be the most intriguing. Dunlap is coming off his “worst” season dating back to 2011 with just six sacks a season ago. So Dunlap put up the same number of sacks that Judon did in 2020 for a fraction of the cost. Sounds like someone who Baltimore should be all over.

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There’s a slew of other cheap options to consider, such as Carl Lawson or Jordan Jenkins. Considering how depleted this current roster is for edge rushers, the Ravens should entertain bringing in more than one of these guys.

Draft a guy in round one of the 2021 NFL Draft:

If ever there was an offseason where a team needed to recreate its pass-rushing depth chart, this would be the one. Outside of signing someone in Free Agency, the upcoming draft has tons of terrific prospects to look into.

It starts at the University of Miami FL., where the team has three top-tier guys to fancy. Gregory Rousseau started the process as a potential top-five pick but his stock has slipped after sitting out of the 2020 season. His fall could be to the Ravens’ gain, as he is a very good player. His teammates, Jaelen Phillips and Quincy Roche, are also great targets for Baltimore to look at. There’s also a slew of other guys to target on day one of the 2021 NFL Draft, such as Azeez Ojulari (Georgia), Joesph Ossai (Texas), or Ronnie Perkins (Oklahoma).

If the Ravens opted to go the draft route to recreate its pass rush, round one is the place to do so. There are tons of directions the team can go to add talent and so many guys who would be excellent value to Baltimore. The draft is usually the best way to go for addressing needs, and this year’s draft couldn’t be better for doing just that for the Ravens pass-rushing woes.

Make a splash and sign Justin Houston:

While we would’ve loved to have seen Baltimore splurge on one of its own guys, seeing the team chase after someone of Justin Houston’s caliber is a very intriguing and exciting thought.

It’s easy to forget that Houston had a 22 sack season back in 2014 considering he’s been far below that caliber of a player since then, but he’s nonetheless continued to be as steady a producer as they come. Houston has had no fewer than eight sacks over the last four seasons, including an 11 sack campaign in 2019. Houston has remained a consistently good pass rusher when healthy and he is looking for one final payday before his prime is over and done with. The Ravens should be the team that gives him that fat check.

Bringing in Houston would be a ground-shattering move across the league and the Baltimore Ravens would perhaps get themselves an upgrade over anything they had a year ago. Houston looks like he still has plenty left in the tank and would restore some validity to the team’s pass rush. If Baltimore decided to go big on someone, we’d love to see it be Houston.