The Ravens moved to fill the enormous gap left by the injury to Terrell Suggs by acquiring veteran Jason Babin.

Reports indicate Babin was signed to a 1-year deal for the vet minimum, which is a clear indication he’s doing this for the right reason (pursuit of a ring). As a vested veteran signed after week 1, Babin will not collect his full salary if cut, provided the amount was not guaranteed.  In any case, the cap risk for signing Babin is minimal.

Prior to his 9/5 cut from the Jets, Pro Football Talk quoted Babin as saying, “If they don’t want me, I’m sure there’s 31 others that do.”

The Jets’ coaches and front office presumably knew what they were doing when they released Babin just 11 days ago, but they were also motivated by a strong pairing at OLB and $1.5 million in cap savings.  Without having inside information from practice, I have to review his 2014 game film to get the best sense of where he was recently.

I selected 4 games to review, which totaled 128 of his 470 snaps (approximately 45% of the Jets’ defensive snaps), were spread through the season, and were representative of his contribution based on his Pro Football Focus (PFF) game scores relative to his full-season grades.

Week 2 at Green Bay (PFF score +0.4)

Babin played 21 snaps as a situational pass rusher.  He had a very late QH which was wiped out by a roughing the passer flag (Q2, 0:39).  Later on the same drive, he had another QH on a 6-yard TD pass (Q2, 0:28).  He contributed 1 other pressure. I scored him with 1 tackle in run defense and 1 other supporting edge set.

Week 8 vs Buffalo (+2.0)

Jason played 19 snaps, again as a situational pass rusher.  He contributed a QH and 1 other pressure as I have it scored in 12 pass rush attempts.  He had 1 tackle for a gain of 1 in run defense and I have 1 other note for edge setting on a gain of 1.

Week 10 vs Pittsburgh (-0.7)

The Jets shocked the Steelers 20-13 and Babin’s pressure played a role.  He increased to 28 snaps, including time staying on the field as Pittsburgh ran the no-huddle offense.  I’ve sent the following list of plays to PFF, who credited Babin with just 1 QH (Q2, 0:17) and no pressures:

(Q1, 4:18), (Q1, 4:13), (Q2, 0:30), (Q3, 3:45), (Q4, 11:55), (Q4, 10:53), (Q4, 1:28)

Most or all of these would qualify as pressures as I score them.  This is not a knock on PFF.  They are so universally quoted, because they are the only reliable source of game-by-game grading that is provided league wide.  However, I find occasional differences in both definition and judgment.  When I submit them for review, they always do so promptly and report their findings by email.  That’s an organization that lives transparency.

In Babin’s most amusing play of the day (Q2, 12:45), Roethlisberger was whistled for delay of game as the ball was snapped.  Ben drifted back in the pocket then stopped.  His line had given up, but Babin played through and hit Ben hard and low to draw a personal foul which superseded the delay of game flag.

Week 14 at Minnesota (+3.9)

With an injury to Muhammad Wilkerson necessitating creative attempts to generate pass rush, Babin played all 60 defensive snaps in a hybrid OLB/DE role.  He generated a QH, 6 other pressures, and had a major supporting contribution to a sack on a T/E stunt (Q1, 10:18) in 28 pass rushes.  He made 6 tackles, all in run defense, for gains of 1, 5, 4, 5, 1, and 2 yards.  I also have 3 other notes where he made an edge-setting contribution on gains of 1, 3, and 4 by pinching the play inside without tackle credit.  This was an outstanding game which would have fit right in with Suggs’ DPOY season.

General notes versus the run

Babin is a natural edge setter who rarely rushes himself out of a run play.  That’s easy to accomplish as a situational pass rusher, but his 3-down play at Minnesota demonstrated this characteristic.  He pursues well to the inside or across the formation to make tackles.

On one play, however, the Jets were beaten on a reverse against Minnesota (Q4, 7:31) when Babin didn’t maintain good backside position and was embarrassingly blocked by Bridgewater to spring Wright for a gain of 23.  In aggregate, from the plays I reviewed, he earned his plus marks in run defense.

Jason has not always been an effective run defender when playing DE in a 4-3.  The DE has to beat the block from a tackle more often in a 4-3 than an OLB must in a 3-4.  Babin has not had the combination of size, quickness, or leverage to hold a 4-3 edge in the last few years.  When he came to the Jets, he was paired with a set of talented and massive interior linemen who draw doubles and made his edge-setting role much easier.  He’ll have a similar opportunity with the Ravens.

As a pass rusher

 In 2014, Babin rushed primarily from a 4-man front on passing situations, which he did from his natural 4-point stance (I did not observe a single instance where he had just 1 hand on the turf).  At the end of the year, he had more snaps from a standing (2-point) stance and some where he was in outside coverage or dropped to cover.

He likes to set wide on passing downs, but didn’t display a broad arsenal of pass rush moves in the video I watched.  He has a slow spin move he tries frequently when the tackle fans him out and a bull rush that he uses somewhat infrequently. When moving inside, he occasionally will beat the defender with his first step to generate pressure, but if he fails to do so, he often moves laterally along the line of scrimmage looking for an open gap through which to stunt.

Most pass plays, he attempts a speed rush and will continue pursuit for 270 degrees around the pocket on some slow-developing plays.  His doggedness produced some late pressures.

He drew 2 bad personal fouls in the games I reviewed and had 3 for the season.  I would describe his style as “I’m going to hit the QB when I get to him and let the officials figure it out.”

In both stance and motor, he’ll remind older Ravens fans of Michael McCrary.

I didn’t see enough of him in coverage to draw any meaningful conclusions.

Babin as a Raven

–Jason joins a talented defense much like the Jets in terms of quality on the defensive line.  As discussed above, that should help him provide value on all 3 downs.

–The Ravens desperately need a 3-down OLB to replace Suggs.  Upshaw is strong versus the run, Dumervil is the Ravens best pass rusher, and Za’Darius Smith can provide pass rush value, but was bad against the run in the preseason.  Since none of those 3 are 2-way players, it leaves the Ravens vulnerable to no-huddle offenses where defensive substitution is not always possible.

–Dumervil’s career has been brought back to life in Baltimore, because they have focused him on a pure pass rush role, which has both kept him fresh and employed more talented run defenders.  I’d argue his last 2 seasons have been his most productive on a per-snap basis.  Last year he played 56% of the team’s snaps and may have had his best season.  By acquiring Babin, the Ravens can leave Dumervil with a similar snap count and rushing versus the right tackle, where he’s had far more success.

–Some will say Dumervil would be better playing the edge in a 3-4, which has certainly been true of Babin, but Dumervil does not have Babin’s size, knack for positioning on the edge, or motor to pursue across the formation.

–With regard to Babin’s personal pass rush contribution, I think he’ll find some good stunt opportunities by moving laterally along the line of scrimmage where Davis and Jernigan should draw a fair number of double teams.

–He won’t provide a lot of sacks, but his contribution should continue to come in the form of pressures, some of which the Ravens will need to convert for turnovers.

In setting the defensive scheme and game planning for the remainder of the season, OLB is clearly Pees greatest challenge.

The ILBs are set and talented, plus there is depth in the event of injury.

The secondary played well in game 1 and the base nickel (Hill, Lewis, Smith, Webb, and Arrington) have clearly defined roles.  Depth could be an issue, but it isn’t yet.

The interior DL is a deep and talented rotation with young stars (Davis, Williams, and Jernigan) at all 3 starting spots.

It is at OLB that the success of the 2015 Ravens defense now hinges.