Ravens pull off a major heist in trading for Calais Campbell

The Ravens added a needed force to their defensive line with the acquisition of Calais Campbell. On its face, the deal looks like a seal.

Last season, the Baltimore Ravens brought the blitz on 54.9% of their defensive snaps, by far the most in the NFL. This helped all of Baltimore’s pass-rushers, most notably outside linebacker Matthew Judon, who amassed 9.5 sacks and 63 total pressures in the 2019 season. Judon was set to be a free agent whenever the 2020 league year began, but the Ravens had already placed the franchise tag on him.

On Sunday, just after the new CBA was ratified and the 2020 salary cap was set at $198.2 million, the Ravens added a massive (both literally and figuratively) cog to their defensive line by trading a fifth-round draft pick to the Jaguars for defensive lineman Calais Campbell. The Ravens will take on on the $17.5 million cap charge which represents the final year of the four-year, $60 million contract Campbell signed with Jacksonville in March, 2017.

This is an unbelievably outstanding move for the Ravens and general manager Eric DeCosta. The 33-year-old Campbell had just 6.5 sacks last season after amassing 14.5 in 2017 and 10.5 in 2018, but that doesn’t give the whole picture of the effect he had on Jacksonville’s defense. Campbell had 71 total pressures in 2019, per Pro Football Focus, which is far more than the 53 he had in 2018, and his 35 run stops showed the complete nature of his game.

Moreover, Campbell is a game-wrecker from any and every gap.

At 6-8 and 300 pounds, Campbell’s ability to stay at the top of his profession is even rarer because he doesn’t have the typical edge rusher’s frame. He’s fast enough to get around the edge to the quarterback, but it’s his pure strength, technique and understanding of timing and tempo off the snap that make him special. The way he (No. 93) throws Texans right tackle Kendall Lamm (No. 74) out of the club on his way to a sack of Deshaun Watson in 2018 is a perfect example.

Campbell is great off the edge, but he can also create pressure from the three-technique and nose tackle positions. He was especially effective when aligned on the same side as fellow pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue in a package the Jaguars should have used more than they did. Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale should be expected to take advantage of the Campbell/Judon tandem with more frequency.

Moving to the 2019 season, there are examples of Campbell getting it done against the Super Bowl champion Chiefs and the Titans, who faced Kansas City in the 2019 AFC Championship Game.

In this Week 2 near-sack of Patrick Mahomes, Campbell starts as a nose tackle head-up over center Austin Reiter, and stunts outside right tackle Mitchell Schwartz as rookie edge-rusher Josh Allen moves inside. There, Campbell has a free release to pressure Mahomes, who can only throw the ball into Section 120 to avoid a loss.

In his three-sack game against the Titans in Week 3, Campbell exposed both of Tennessee’s guards — left guard Rodger Saffold and right guard Jamil Douglas. On this sack, Campbell crosses Douglas’ face so quickly, Douglas can barely get his hands up to mount any sort of credible defense.

Coming into his 13th NFL season, Campbell still wins leverage battles he shouldn’t, he’s faster than he should be at this point in his career, and he’s making age an irrelevancy. For a team that’s all-in on a championship curve, this deal makes all the sense in the world. For the Jaguars, and their continued deconstruction of a defense that was among the NFL’s best a couple of seasons ago, one can only wonder what’s going on over there.