OWINGS MILLS — The Ravens led the NFL in sacks last season, but they lost one of their top edge rushers to free agency.
Outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, who rejuvenated his career in Baltimore and tied a career-high with 9 1/2 sacks, signed with his hometown Carolina Panthers this offseason.
New Ravens defensive coordinator Zachary Orr doesn’t necessarily believe the team needs another edge rusher to fill the void left by Clowney. He predicts the Ravens will be able to get sacks from their defensive linemen, inside linebacker and even their safeties next season.
“I think the production can be made by a lot of those guys,” Orr said. “[There are] a lot of candidates in that room, specifically. Obviously, you’ve got David Ojabo, and we’ve got Kyle Van Noy back, which helps out. [Odafe Oweh] – we expect him to have a big year. [Tavius Robinson], Malik Hamm … I mean, [there are] a lot of guys. But I don’t think the production just has to come from that room. You mentioned Travis Jones earlier. [Justin] Madubuike, Michael Pierce, ‘Broddy’ [Broderick] Washington … That whole front, the [linebackers], blitzes … I think we can make that production up in a lot of different ways.”
Defensive tackle Madubuike had a breakout year and led the team with 13 1/2 sacks. While the opposing teams will try to neutralize him this season with double teams, that could create an opportunity for teammates on the defensive line — Jones and Pierce — to collapse the pocket and get to the quarterback.
Van Noy also had a strong season and set a career-high with nine sacks with the Ravens last season. He showed that he could still play at a high level at age 33.
The Ravens hope that Ojabo will give them a boost in his third year in the NFL. Ojabo is practicing at training camp after having surgery in November to repair a partially torn ACL, which ended his season after three games.
In the limited time Ojabo has been on the field, he’s made an impact. In his rookie year, Ojabo recovered from a torn Achilles he suffered on his Pro Day, appeared in two games, and had a forced fumble. Last season, he finished with six tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble before the surgery.
In addition to Ojabo and Van Noy, the Ravens will need to get more production from Oweh (three sacks), Tavius Robinson (one sack), and Malik Hamm (injured reserve). Oweh has been one of the best defensive players throughout the OTAs and the first week of training camp. Orr wants to get more production from him.
“I think ‘Daf’ has continued to get better every single year, and when you watch the film, there are a lot of people in this league who cannot do what he can do on the edge,” Orr said. “That guy is so talented, and he made a lot of plays last year, so we expect him to make even more plays this year.
“The better ‘Daf’ is, the better we’re going to be as a [defense], and he knows that, and he’s been putting in the work. So, he’s looking better than he did last year so far, and I’m excited to see where he’s going to take it.”
The Ravens also added Adisa Isaac in the third round of this year’s NFL draft from Penn State. Last season, Isaac started all 13 games for the Nittany Lions and finished with 37 tackles (23 solo), 16 tackles for loss, 7 1/2 sacks, four quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Isaac is currently recovering from a hamstring injury.