Malik Harrison signs rookie deal with Ravens

Fourth-round pick from Ohio State

The Ravens officially added another young playmaker to their roster, signing rookie linebacker Malik Harrison to his rookie deal.

This means Baltimore has signed eight of the 10 players selected in the 2020 draft. Only Patrick Queen, the Ravens' first-round pick from LSU, and Devin Duvernay, a third-round pick from Texas, have not inked their deals. 

NFL training camps are expected to proceed by the end of this month.

Harrison was selected by the Ravens in the third round (98th overall) of this year's draft and will spend much of his time at weakside inside linebacker this season, according to coach John Harbaugh.

Harrison was a two-year starter and led the Buckeyes with 75 tackles and added 4.5 sacks, 16.5 tackles for losses, and four pass breakups as a senior. A bit of an old-school linebacker, he ranked third in ProFootballFocus.com’s run-stop percentage, a metric that essentially measures impact tackles.

Only Andy Katzenmoyer (23 in 1996), Ryan Shazier (17 in 2012 and 22.5 in 2013) and Matt Wilhelm (19.5 in 2002) had more tackles for a loss from the linebacker position than Harrison in 2019.

At 6-foot-2 5/8 and 247 pounds and with solid strength and massive hands, he’s already ready for the rigors of the NFL’s version of trench warfare.

It was no secret Baltimore needed to add a linebacker in this year's draft. The Ravens were especially thin at that position after Patrick Onwuasor agreed to a one-year deal with the New York Jets as an unrestricted free agent and Josh Bynes signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Harrison is confident that he's prepared for the rigors of the NFL.

“Playing at Ohio State, you’ve always got to be ready. You never know when your name is going to be called," he said. "We called it ‘competitive excellence.. The guy behind you or just things like that, you’ve just got to be ready. The guy behind you has got to be just as good as a starter. Just being there just molded me a lot to be prepared for moments like this.”