The Baltimore Ravens defense has been nothing short of elite. The offense is pretty good in its own right, but the 9-3 record at the bye week is a symbol of how strong the Ravens' defense has been.
What is so impressive about the Ravens is how deep they go on their defense. To highlight that depth, we are going to rank the 15 best players on the Ravens defense. There have been 20 players who have had a serious impact on this unit; which ones are most important?
Honorable Mention: Broderick Washington, Tavius Robinson, Rock Ya-Sin, Malik Harrison, Brent Urban, Daryl Worley
These have had their moments but just did not make the cut. They would sit from 16-20 this season, which speaks to the depth that this group has.
15. Travis Jones, DT
Travis Jones has taken a step forward in his second NFL season. Jones has gone from playing 34.5% of the defensive snaps to 36.2% this season. However, despite that small increase, he is up from five pressures on 162 pass rush snaps to 11 pressures on 182 pass rush snaps.
Also, he went from 15 stops on 176 run defense snaps to 15 stops on 109 run defense snaps. It is clear that he is playing much better. The Ravens have moved him a bit more up and down the defensive line this year, as well.
Still, you thought he might play a little bit more. The success of both Michael Pierce and Justin Madubuike has caused the Ravens to play Travis Jones and Broderick Washington less, making them appear in the bottom 15 to 20 slots. It will be interesting to see if Jones plays more after the bye week to preserve the veterans for the playoffs.
14. Ronald Darby, CB
For how late into the offseason Rondald Darby was signed, he ended up having a pretty big impact. Darby tore his ACL last year, so he was a late addition to the roster, and he mainly only joined the team because Rock Ya-Sin was injured. He ended up ranked higher than Ya-Sin on this list and has been much more impactful.
Ronald Darby started weeks one through four. He played in a bit of a rotation early on because of the injury recovery but looked solid in coverage. Darby then helped ease Marlon Humphrey back in from weeks five through seven before sitting for a few weeks.
Darby started weeks 11 and 12 with Humphrey injured, and we will see his status after the bye. Week 12 was the first game that he started and he finished with 100% of the snaps played this year. Having such a quality cornerback potential be the first man off of the bench will be huge in the playoffs.
13. Arthur Maulet, Slot
Arthur Maulet is another player who has only been on the field for bits and pieces of games, but he has had an impact on the Ravens roster. Maulet was injured early into the year and missed the first two weeks.
He did not play much in week three but had a significant role in week four. When Marcus Williams was healthy, he did not play much, but injuries at safety pushed Kyle Hamilton away from the slot and gave Maulet starting work.
He played 56% of the snaps, 80%, and 70% from weeks six through eight. In week nine, it was down to 43%, then it was 19% in week 10, 28% in week 11, and 11% in week 12.
He is slowly being phased out because Marcus Williams is healthy again. Still, the Ravens have depth like Darby and Maulet outside their top 11. Maulet gets the nod over Darby because while Darby has been better play-to-play, Maulet has had some huge plays that changed the game, like two sacks and an interception, but also a couple of pass breakups and pressures that caused shifts in momentum are on his stat sheet as well.
12. Kyle Van Noy, Edge
Kyle Van Noy’s career-high in sacks is 6.5. He has six for the Ravens, and he signed during the season. Also, he has five games to beat his career-high. What a season. To be fair, he is dropping into coverage less than he usually does.
Still, he is getting home in big moments and in bunches. Van Noy had two sacks against both Seattle and Detroit, two of the Ravens blowout wins. His forced fumble against the Seahawks turned a chance for Seattle to get momentum before the half into a chance for the Ravens.
For such an impact player to make his debut in week three is rather impressive. What is even more impressive for the Baltimore Ravens is that career numbers for Van Noy do not crack their top 11 most impactful players, and it is not one of their two best edge rushers. The Ravens are just that deep.
11. Patrick Queen, LB
This one may get some pushback, but when the defense has so many big names on it, hard decisions have to come. One of the more replaceable players on the defense this year is Patrick Queen. That is because if he did not play, you could slot a lot of players next to Roquan Smith, and they would play better.
The turnaround in play for Queen happened exactly when the Ravens added Smith. Queen was trending in a bad way, but his last two seasons with Smith changed everything for him. Still, his last four or five games have had plenty of mistakes, and a lot of the reason that Queen thrives is that he does not need to do much communication before the snap, and after the snap, he is more run-and-chase than he is a processor. Still, getting the best year of Queen during his contract year is a win for the Ravens.
They get to see this season with two solid linebackers, and it increases their compensatory value, assuming he gets a nice deal in free agency.
10. Michael Pierce, NT
It is easy for fans to overlook what Michael Pierce is doing because this defense has so many sack-makers and turnover-takers. However, Pierce is one of the key units upfront on this defense that makes it all happen.
Pierce is 31 and playing some of the best football of his career. It is impressive because he has 472 snaps. In the last three seasons combined, Pierce has played 342 snaps. He has never played more than 56% of the snaps in a single season, and yet this year, Pierce is on track to play 58% of the snaps for the Ravens. He is having an underrated year as a run stuffer, but he is surprisingly doing a lot as a pass rusher.
Pierce has 26 pressures this year, per PFF, which is already a career-high. Still, it is his presence as a run defender that forces teams to avoid him. He makes them run away from him and keeps both of the linebackers clear. Pierce making life easier for Queen gets him ahead of Queen. The big man needs his respect as well.
9. Odafe Oweh, Edge
Odafe Oweh had five sacks as a rookie, which is his career-high. Oweh currently has four and has only played seven full games. He has a great chance to hit that career-high, especially with the way that he is playing.
Oweh has a 16.9% pass rush win rate, per PFF. That is easily the highest rate of his career, and it also is tied with Jadeveon Clowney. While Kyle Van Noy has more sacks, Oweh has a higher win rate and pass rush productivity rating. Oweh has beaten some stiff competition as well. He had seven pressures against Laremy Tunsil in week one. Then, Oweh recorded sacks against Orlando Brown, Taylor Decker, and Charles Cross.
Oweh is already playing his best football and should be getting more sacks when he comes out of the bye week.
8. Marcus Williams, FS
Marcus Williams is a really tough player to rank because at his fullest and best play, he is a better player than this and should be ranked much higher than this. However, at the same time it is hard to even say that he should be this high at this point.
Marcus Williams got hurt in week one and tried to come back in week five. After playing poorly in both weeks five and six, he left again with a different injury. Marcus Williams returned in week 10, but you could tell that his injured pectoral was impacting him.
Still, Williams started to turn things around in the last two games, and we are seeing his value come to life once again. It is one thing to hold Jake Browning in check, although Williams had a couple of nice plays in coverage while Joe Burrow played. Still, Williams and his back-end coverage had Justin Herbert holding the ball for too long.
Williams really has just two good starts this year. However, they are the last two games, and he entered the bye week healthy. He is trending up and is a top-11 player when he is healthy. For now, this is as high as we can put him.
7. Geno Stone, S
Geno Stone is another player who was very tough to rank. First, he is second in the NFL in interceptions. Not many players who rank that high in such an impactful statistical category could fail to crack the top five players on their own unit, let alone the entire team. That is where Stone is.
Five of his six interceptions came with Marcus Williams sidelined, and none of them have come in the last three weeks. Stone is the backup for Williams, and with Williams back in the lineup, the Ravens are asking him to play more of the strong safety role. That is leading to more missed tackles, more coverage issues, and the worst three games of his season.
So, through the first eight games or so, you would put Stone in the top five without a doubt. However, the Ravens are telling you that they view Williams as the more valuable player and Stone's recent play suggests he could finish the year lower on this ranking. We will see how Stone responds to playing with Williams instead of for Williams in the coming weeks. Because he filled in for Williams, has played more, and was elite when he did that job, he just edges out Williams.
6. Marlon Humphrey, CB
Marlon Humphrey is another tough player to rank. Okay, I will not say that for everyone. Still, between Humphrey, Stone, and Williams, you have two big names who have not played much and one unknown who has been excellent. We went with Stone over Williams, but a healthy Humphrey is too big of a name to put Stone over. Beyond that, Stone has five or six solid games, and so does Humphrey.
Humphrey missed the first four weeks of the season with a foot injury. He came back and let up a game-clinching touchdown to George Pickens. Since then, he played five games which featured 194 snaps in coverage. In that time, PFF has him marked down with 24 yards allowed in coverage. When Humphrey is healthy, he may still be the most impactful player on this roster. Humphrey only has six starts and did not play full games in two of them.
That is what has him at number seven. If he plays after the bye week, he is a top-five player on the defense.
5. Brandon Stephens, CB
In the same way that we have to give Geno Stone the edge over Marcus Williams, the Ravens have seen Brandon Stephens show up every week while Marlon Humphrey did not, and he gets the edge for that. Stephens is having an excellent year, especially when you think that the team tried to move him to safety in the spring.
He is only playing cornerback because Humphrey and Rock Ya-Sin were both hurt to start the season. Still, that gave him the week one start, and he never gave it up.
Stephens has allowed one touchdown all season, but it was to Ja’Marr Chase; it was in garbage time, and Stephens spent the rest of the game locking him down. This has been a breakout year for him.
When Humphrey is healthy, teams challenge him over Stephens, but right now, teams are paying for that because Stephens is a top-five performer on this defense.
4. Jadeveon Clowney, Edge
Who knew that Jadeveon Clowney would have a career year for the Baltimore Ravens when he signed with them this offseason? Clowney is 30 years old, and after about a decade in the NFL, things finally came together for his best year yet. Clowney has 7.5 sacks. His career-high is 9.5.
So, Odafe Oweh needs 1.5, Kyle Van Noy needs one, and Clowney needs 2.5 sacks to set his career high this year. Clowney has been the reliable one while Van Noy was a free agent, and Oweh was injured. He held things down by himself for the first couple of weeks.
Still, now that Van Noy and Oweh are here to give him help, we are seeing the best of Clowney. He has four sacks in the last three games. The Ravens' pass rush does not get respect, but with Van Noy, Clowney, and Oweh all playing at the top of their games, this is a solid group.
3. Justin Madubuike, DT
Justin Madubuike is making everything happen for the Baltimore Ravens this year. Madubuike entered the year with 8.5 sacks combined in three seasons. The discussion around his contract was that he was a solid run defender who was improving as a pass rusher every year. However, there was a question of whether he could take this step. He has.
Madubuike has ten sacks this year. Some are clean-up, and some are easier matchups. Some, he is just flat-out dominating and rushing the passer better this year than ever before. Last year, Madubuike had a win rate of 7.7%, and this year, that is up to 13.3%.
What has to feel good is seeing him improve in that area but also keep his roots as the run defender. His run-stop rate is up from 7.9 to 9.8. He is showing that he can do both and that he is one of the best interior linemen in the NFL because he brings both.
He is the force in the middle, the leader in the sacks, and one of the best run defenders. Justin Madubuike gets respect as a top-three defensive player this year.
2. Kyle Hamilton, Slot
Kyle Hamilton has been everything that the Baltimore Ravens could possibly ask for this year. He plays everywhere and does everything as he ascends into an All-Pro type of player in his second season.
Hamilton has essentially been a strong safety for seven games and a slot defender for five games. But really, he has been both in all games. That added versatility is so valuable.
Hamilton is at his best in the slot, though, and it is becoming hard to move him away from there. His size can impact throwing lanes near the line. Also, his tackling is huge in run support, and his timely blitzes make him a player who impacts the game in all areas.
The Ravens ask him to do more than most safeties, and he does it with ease. This makes life so much easier for all of the shuffling that injuries have caused the back end to do. The Ravens would not be this good on defense without Kyle Hamilton.
1. Roquan Smith, LB
Did you really need to get to this slide to see? There may be some debate at number two as Hamilton is still coming into his own. However, there is no debate about who the number one spot is. Roquan Smith changed everything about this defense from the second he got traded to Baltimore.
They do not just play faster; they play a more complex style of defense. They switch things up more. It starts with Smith being able to communicate and move the pieces around. Smith makes Kyle Hamilton better because his sturdy presence in the middle allows them to get risky with Hamilton all over the field. The same can be said with Patrick Queen, who immediately played better when Smith was added.
The Mike MacDonald scheme was coming along slowly, and now he is a hot head coaching name after this trade. Nobody fuels this defense and keeps things together better than the single caller up front. Roquan Smith is the best defensive player on the Ravens.