The Baltimore Ravens are signing Kyle Van Noy to their practice squad. They will use an activation to call him up this week, and then, if things go well, the assumption would be that he would sign to their roster. The Ravens flirted with Van Noy this summer, so why sign him now, and what does it mean?
3. The Baltimore Ravens do not see their injury issues getting better soon
The Baltimore Ravens brought in Kyle Van Noy when they were worried about Tyus Bowser. While Bowser has remained on the IR, and his status may have impacted this signing, the reason the Ravens have added Van Noy goes well beyond that one injury.
Now, the Ravens have both David Ojabo and Odafe Oweh injured. Oweh missed most of week three and then sat week four meanwhile. Ojabo came in for him in week four and then missed a lot of week five. This has led to the Ravens playing Tavius Robinson and Jeremiah Moon.
When it came down to those two, the big issue were that runs were leaking to the edges with them. Jadeveon Clowney can help, but when he has questions across from him, the Ravens need backup plans. This is where Van Noy comes in.
If the Ravens thought that Oweh would be back this week, they may not have signed Van Noy. If they thought Ojabo would be back in a few weeks, they would not have done this. It looks like they expect both to miss this week, and they may see one of them missing more than just that. Beyond that, Tyus Bowser is unlikely to come back when the PUP timeline allows him to come back. All of this means Kyle Van Noy had to sign.
2. The Baltimore Ravens do not trust their depth
The big issue here is both Jeremiah Moon and Tavius Robinson are not doing enough to fill the Ravens' concerns. If you watched the preseason, you saw that Tavius Robinson struggled throughout. He looked like it would take time to adjust to the NFL. Jeremiah Moon looked better than him. Even Malik Hamm looked better, but Hamm is on the IR as well.
With these two in, the run defense suffered. The Colts had 13 carries for 79 yards outside the tackles, per PFF. They were getting to the edges too easy. They had 17 carries for 43 yards when running at the big bodies such as Michael Pierce.
Moon can play the role of Bowser, who plays off of the football, but he is not the long-term answer here. If the Ravens do think Bowser will be out even longer, they have to sign Van Noy just to replace Moon. However, they also look better with Van Noy across from Jadeveon Clowney and then Tavius Robinson coming in as depth. Robinson is not ready to start right now, especially against a Browns rushing attack.
1. The Baltimore Ravens may be able to unleash Jadeveon Clowney
The Baltimore Ravens will get the most out of Jadeveon Clowney because of the signing of Kyle Van Noy. When the Ravens initially signed Clowney, he was the Bowser replacement. That is because neither David Ojabo nor Odafe Oweh had experience off of the football.
So, Clowney had to adjust to the role, which meant playing off of the football at times and dropping into coverage. He dropped into coverage seven times in three games after dropping 19 times over three years before this. Now, Van Noy can play this role.
This will bring out the best in Clowney. Clowney is a great run defender and can attack with his hand on the line. At his best, Oweh is better in this role, but Clowney is more suited for this role than any sort of hybrid role that includes filling in for Tyus Bowser. Still, it also makes you wonder how long Oweh will be back if the Ravens are already moving Clowney into his role.