Admittedly, I arrived at One Winning Drive a tad bit late yesterday. There was this whole thing with the schedule start time confusion on my end, I stopped for gas, then a conga line of dump trucks running three-wide on 795… regardless, I made it to the practice fields after the media gets ushered in and told where to run. Once through the gates, I noticed the majority of the media and fans were on the far field watching the star-studded offensive players at work. I wasn’t about to strut to the far field solo to join my contemporaries (last time I did that I almost got drilled by a Tucker field goal on the hop) so I opted to stay on the near field sidelines where the defense was hitting the sleds and running some basic drills.
You always tend to forget how gargantuan these dudes are until you’re up close and in person, and given how close the sleds are to the fences? You can get insanely close and feel very, very small.
As the soothing sounds of the sleds popping eased my ever-wandering mind into a state of loosely connected tangents, I started to think about why nobody else was around to watch the defense, particularly the defensive line?
After all, they’ve been the most effective and impressive unit thus far in camp, and it really hasn’t been close.
The harsh reality is that the unit isn’t ripe with star players that are NFL-wide household names, and the they’re widely expected to be one of the weaker units on the team…except that’s not happening.
At. All.
The expected weakness is starting to look like an under-the-radar strength that deserves more attention as they’ve spent the first week of training camp wreaking havoc on every iteration of an offensive line that the Ravens put out there to run scrimmages.
[Related Article: Leaky O-Line Signals Concern?]
If the Ravens try to run the ball on offense? They find themselves looking at nominal gains at best, as the defensive line has been getting the better push and controls the offensive line’s movement with limited space for a back to squeeze through. Numerous times yesterday, we watched the Ravens maulers on the D-side control run plays, collapse lanes, and blow up a play. Broderick Washington showed solid lateral movement, Angelo Blackson couldn’t be moved, but Justin Madubuike was my favorite to watch here.
On one particular play, Lamar Jackson handed off to Justice Hill, and before he could cut up field, Mads had him in his grasp as his teammates swarmed the ball carrier. As Hill continued to fight for yardage, Madubuike had a hand in on the ball, and the two continued to try to pry the other free of the ball…
…except we’re talking a 6’3” 305lb Defensive Lineman versus a 5’10” 200lb Running Back.
Mads did to Hill what Hulk did to Loki in the first Avengers movie (the real ones know).
But it’s not just the run game where they’re succeeding thus far in camp. They’re actually getting solid pressure on the passer as well, driving offensive linemen back into the pocket and forcing quick or off-timed throws.
Yesterday we witnessed multiple off-balance or lob throws by Ravens quarterbacks who had the nameplate of their offensive lineman’s jersey damn near pressed into their face mask, thanks to some great pressure by the defensive front.
To be specific, I counted three instances where the passer threw that quick jump pass before the tap (because we don’t hit QBs in camp) as a direct result of pressure from the defensive line, and a handful of snaps where the QB couldn’t get through their progressions and either rolled out quickly, took off running, or threw an ill-advised pass.
Again, Justin Madubuike was driving his opponent back with a quick first step off the snap and a relentless motor, while speeding up plays that hadn’t fully developed. I know it’s still early but I think this version of Mads may be the most disruptive and tenacious I’ve seen thus far (doesn’t hurt that it’s a contract year too!).
Michael Pierce has been thriving in this area as well, but that really shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Pierce continues to show a knack for driving the interior of the Ravens line back like a bowling ball going full speed down the lane, he just needs to stay healthy and prove his value for a full season. We also watched veteran Brent Urban absolutely demolish the line with strength and power on numerous reps yesterday against the second and third units that drew some praise from the sidelines.
"I had a blast today."
Michael Pierce on the pads going on: pic.twitter.com/uegAfuDR5q
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) July 31, 2023
Toss in some positive reps by Travis Jones, Broderick Washington (who has looked very good in my days at camp), and a deeper cut with Kai Caesar (or ‘salad’ as they call him) and this unit is overall looking stout.
Sure, there are some detractors out there scolding the Ravens offensive line and voicing concern that a lackluster defensive line is dismantling them…
I refuse to buy into that narrative. This is a very under-the-radar and scary unit that’s going to have folks talking about them sooner than you think.
Pads are on 😤@SeatGeek pic.twitter.com/iqfHcIdY0j
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) July 31, 2023
One Response
That would be amazing if it’s exceptional D line play and not poor O line. Imagine that with exceptional inside linebacker tandem, exceptional safety tandem, and even average corner and outside LB play? Exciting! But you’d also love to see the O line start to show up.