While the departure of Ray Lewis will leave a leadership void, the void on the field could be filled immediately. Since day one of free agency GM Ozzie Newsome made it clear that he wants the 2013 Raven defense to be back to top-5 caliber. He addressed the secondary and defensive line adequately, but the linebacker corps might be the reason that folks around the league think of the Baltimore defense as “A Baltimore Defense” yet again.
The problem of not having enough linebackers will be gone (barring injury) and taken over by a much bigger question—how many linebackers will the team keep?
Training camp can change things in a flash, but as of right now there are at least 10 players at LB with the potential to make the 53-man roster.
Let’s start with the “locks” first. Assuming the following guys can stay healthy, they’ll have a spot week one against Denver: Terrell Suggs, Jameel McClain, Arthur Brown, Elvis Dumervil and Courtney Upshaw. (The Dannell Ellerbe fanatic in me wishes he could be added onto this list, but I’ll just have to get over it.)
Newly acquired Daryl Smith should make the roster, but since he spent nine years in Jacksonville, I have to see him on a larger stage and a more competitive depth chart. He is a player that this team needs and assuming he shows early signs of being the leading tackler that he was for the Jags, Smith has a great shot of making it.
Still, there’s another inside linebacker that I think has the most potential. Josh Bynes played in 10 games during the 2012 season, during which he showed that he might have the skill set to really break out in 2013. Coaches are high on him and his rare skill set is special. With enough of an extended look, I’m confident that Bynes will prove worthy of at least a backup spot.
When you talk about a player like Albert McClellan, you could consider his season a make-or-break. He got playing time last year because of injuries and a thin depth chart, but this season is going to show his true colors. With the extensive amount of competition around him, he’ll have to prove to coaches that he can bring something special to the team. He’s played in 30 games in the past two years, but there are about a dozen guys with his same position that will do everything they can to beat him out.
We’ve named eight players that have a real solid shot at making the squad, but don’t forget about the sleepers. John Simon, Nigel Carr and Adrian Hamilton all are waiting in the wings to steal a spot and be players that are the talk of training camp.
Is it fair to say that this is the deepest linebacker corps that John Harbaugh has had in his head coaching tenure?
