Three Ravens defenders standing out in training camp
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Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff Writer
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — It didn’t take long for Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh to fear for the safety of his quarterbacks in training camp. So, after Odafe Oweh disrupted another player in the backfield, Harbaugh pulled his outside linebacker off to the side.
“I had to pull the reins in on him a little bit,” Harbaugh said.
Last season, the Ravens defense made history when it became the first team to lead the league in fewest points allowed (16.5), most sacks (60) and most takeaways (31) in a single season. This year, under new defensive coordinator Zach Orr, the Baltimore defense has made life miserable for the Ravens’ offense, creating havoc this summer.
In the first week, the Ravens recorded 17 interceptions, including pick-sixes by Eddie Jackson and Marcus Williams. The defense has not backed down from physical running back Derrick Henry, who was dropped to the ground by new starting inside linebacker Trenton Simpson. Even quarterback Lamar Jackson stepped into the defensive huddle to tell the players to slow it down.
“Those guys look like the throwback Ravens defense,” Jackson said. “[It’s] bloodshed, a lot of smack talk and a lot of big hits. We’re seeing it all from our defense. Guys are actually tackling out there — I don’t think we should be — but we’re looking good. I’m loving it.”
The Ravens return nine starters from a defense that shut out Patrick Mahomes and the Super Bowl champion Chiefs in the second half of the AFC Championship Game.
Baltimore’s major departures were pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney, Pro Bowl inside linebacker Patrick Queen and AFC interceptions leader Geno Stone. But the biggest hit to the defense occurred to the coaching staff: Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald was hired as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks and two other assistants (Anthony Weaver and Dennard Wilson) left to become defensive coordinators.
All-Pro middle linebacker Roquan Smith prefers to focus on what the Ravens bring back instead of what they lost.
“I think we can be better, honestly, and I know we can,” Smith said. “But I have a great deal of respect for the guys that were here before. Good luck to those guys in the places that they are. But I love the pieces that we have here, and we’ll be able to show that to the world soon enough. Maybe we’ll come back to this conversation at the end of the year, and we’ll be like, ‘Wow, can we be better than that?'”
Here are three players who can elevate Baltimore’s defense this season:
Ravens cornerback Humphrey dropped 10 pounds this year. But it wasn’t until Jackson returned from illness that it was evident that Humphrey was a different player.
Humphrey intercepted Jackson four times in the quarterback’s first three practices of camp. Jackson provided a humorous explanation for Humphrey getting the better of him.
“I told Marlon he needs to get his hands right,” Jackson said. “That is why I’m throwing interceptions to him; he dropped a few last year. So I’m hoping that’s helping him out.”
Humphrey, 28, is coming off a season in which he recorded career lows in tackles (26) and passes defensed (five). Foot surgery during last year’s training camp sidelined him for the first four games of the season, and a calf strain forced him to miss two more games later that season.
Humphrey’s goal entering this season was to lose weight. He looked at his better seasons and noticed he was lighter in those years. Humphrey is 190 pounds, which is down from his playing weight of 200 the past couple of seasons.
“Ever since I tore my [pectoral] — around 25 [years] old — I got my grown-man weight on me, and it just never went off,” Humphrey said. “It’s a young man’s game, so I decided to get a little lower.”
The Ravens drafted cornerback Nate Wiggins in the first round, and they bring back starter Brandon Stephens at the other cornerback spot. But the Ravens understand what a healthy Humphrey can do for a defense.
“Having Marlon Humphrey at full speed and at his best would be massively beneficial, and that’s what we expect him to be,” Harbaugh said. “He’s in great shape. So, I would never discount Marlon Humphrey, if I was an opponent. I believe in Marlon. I think he’s one of the best players — one of the very, very best corners — in the National Football League.”
An intense Trenton Simpson
It seems like no one has enjoyed putting the pads on more than new starting inside linebacker Simpson.
On the first day of hitting in camp, Simpson slammed into Henry on a screen pass and later knocked running back Owen Wright backwards on an outside run. Simpson’s day ended with a shoving match with running back Justice Hill.
Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely told Orr, “Tell Trent to smile out there on the field.”
Orr replied, “That’s how he rolls.”
One of the biggest questions for this defense is how Simpson, a third-round pick from a year ago who has 46 career snaps on defense, replaces Queen, a Pro Bowl defender who totaled a team-high 453 tackles over the last four seasons.
Simpson has made it a point to learn as much as he can from Smith, a four-time All-Pro linebacker. Throughout the spring and summer practices, Simpson was right next to Smith whether it was on the field or on the sideline. During meetings, Simpson is sitting next to Smith watching film.
“Trent works his tail off like no other,” Smith said. “[He’s] always trying to find ways to get better, and you can see in day-in and day-out, his approach to the game, his extra meeting time, and the guy is probably one of the most athletic people on the team, if not [the most]. [He] jumps out of the gym, [has] 4.3 [40-yard dash] speed; [he] can do everything. With more reps and him putting it all together, I think the guy really has a chance to special.”
Simpson looked special in his only start last season. With Baltimore already clinching the No. 1 seed in the AFC, Simpson lined up with the first-team defense in the season finale, recording seven tackles (two for loss) and his first career sack against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Before that game, Simpson had been limited to special teams, which was unusual for someone who had started everywhere he played.
“It definitely humbled me a little bit, but it was exactly what I needed, because it was a year of growth,” Simpson said. “I wasn’t rushed and thrown into any type of pressure. I was able to grow every week on [our] scout team, and then when I got a chance to play in Week 18, I had 17 weeks of practice. I was ready to roll. Everything happens for a reason, and [I’m] ready for Year Two.”
A confident Odafe Oweh
Oweh decided to train this offseason in Atlanta, where he worked out with defensive tackle Justin Madubuike and took notes. Last season, Madubuike produced a breakout season with 13.5 sacks and Oweh would like to do the same.
“I had to tap in,” Oweh said of working with Madubuike. “‘What were you doing, man? [Was it] something that you were eating [or] what you’re watching.'”
Baltimore is hoping for Oweh to take his game to the next level and lessen the loss of Clowney, who signed with the Carolina Panthers after finishing second on the Ravens with 9.5 sacks and 19 quarterback hits.
Oweh, a first-round pick in 2021, has 13 career sacks in his first three seasons. The Ravens showed confidence in Oweh by picking up his fifth-year option this offseason, and Oweh has been equally confident in training camp.
“I know who I am. I know what I can do,” Oweh said. “A lot of the plays that I know that I can make are going to be there, right there for me, and it’s just for me to go and take it. So, I’m ready.”
Oweh has had one of the strongest starts to any Ravens defender in camp.
“He’s bringing it,” Harbaugh said. “He’s pretty much been in the backfield every play.”
Baltimore will need Oweh to have a strong start. In the first five weeks of the season, the Ravens defense faces Mahomes, Dak Prescott, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow.
“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.”
