The Baltimore Ravens lost a good amount of production from the edge position during the 2021 offseason. The team saw Matthew Judon, Yannick Ngakoue, and Jihad Ward leave in free agency, creating a huge need at pass rusher.
While the Ravens did end up re-signing edge defenders Tyus Bowser and Pernell McPhee, along with draft Odafe Oweh and Daelin Hayes, Baltimore doesn’t have a ton of pass rushing juice from the position right now. Even throwing in third-year edge Jaylon Ferguson doesn’t do much to ease some of the concerns that many have felt about the Ravens’ pass rush heading into the season.
Baltimore has explored outside options to help their ability to get to the quarterback, including visiting with former Colts edge rusher Justin Houston. However, the veteran options are slowly dwindling as players begin to find new homes after the 2021 NFL draft. Former Washington Football Team edge defender Ryan Kerrigan is the latest pass rusher to go off of the board, signing with the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday.
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With Kerrigan now officially off of the market, that leaves the Ravens with only a few veteran pass rusher options remaining, with the biggest names including Houston, Melvin Ingram, and Olivier Vernon. Baltimore could opt to not sign an outside free agent and roll with who they already have, especially if they feel confident that players like Bowser, Ferguson, and Oweh can provide better production than some people anticipate.
When looking at the statistics for the edge defenders that the Ravens currently have on their roster, the combination of Bowser, McPhee, and Ferguson have combined for 52 sacks in 15 seasons between the three. For comparison, Houston has 97.5 sacks in his 10 year career. Oweh and Hayes don’t factor into the equation because they both haven’t played in and NFL game.
Overall, the Ravens have plenty of talent at the edge position. However, despite having players who can set the edge and drop back into coverage, right now it doesn’t seem like the team has any pure pass rushers who can be 10-12 sack players. That’s not to say that the pass rushers currently on Baltimore’s roster can’t develop into a sack artist with increased snaps, but the safer option could be to add a veteran who has proven that they can get to the quarterback consistently.