The Baltimore Ravens found one of the steals of 2023 free agency when they signed outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy. The veteran was signed after the first few weeks of the season but fit right in and turned in an incredible season for Baltimore both on and off the field.
Following his 2023 dominance, the Ravens decided to re-sign Van Noy to a two-year deal this offseason. When asked about his 2024 expectations, Van Noy explained that he wants to continue to show everyone that he can play at a high level, including himself.
“I just want to continue to show myself and show people that I can still play at a high level. I feel like I’ve been underappreciated in my career. I don’t think I’ve lost a step – in my eyes – just because I’ve been playing different positions my entire career. In college, I played on the ball, and then in the NFL for my first – I think it was until 2019 – I played off the ball. I would love to see how many people could stay in the league making that transformation. Or, I’ve been asked to do both in one season. So, I’ve been asked to do a lot, and I think that may have hindered some things because I wasn’t able to focus on pass rush or covering people. I was never able to focus on just one specific thing. This year, stemming from last year, I was able to focus on pass rush that entire time. I feel like hopefully – it’ll be like my third year ever out of my 11 that I get to focus on just pass rushing. The other year was in 2019, where I had a really good year. Last year was just all pass rush. So, I’m expecting big things from myself, and hopefully you guys are, too.”
Van Noy put together a nine-sack season in 2023 when it was largely unknown what he could still bring. Baltimore lost pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney to the Carolina Panthers this offseason, so Van Noy will have to play an even more prominent role as a veteran leader both on and off the field this season.