The 1 Development For The Ravens Defense That Could Change Everything

Baltimore Ravens defensive players have combined to play 3410 total reps over 310 plays.

Care to guess how many have included their two most accomplished pass rushers on the field at the same time?

Precisely 32, totally nondescript snaps in which $30M edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, the team’s primary offseason acquisition, was on the field with $20M former All-Pro defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, who missed the first few games of the year coming back from a serious neck injury suffered last September. Since Madubuike started getting his legs back, Hendrickson required surgery on a painful finger injury, and Sunday could be their first extended run together.

Hendrickson shouldn’t need an extended pitch count only missing a few weeks and Madubuike is far and away Baltimore’s leader in snaps played at the LOS over the last three games since he’s returned. It stands to reason that Sunday in Cleveland marks the first time we see both at close to full strength (pending how Hendrickson performs if still in a cast or apparatus of some sort). And they are facing a Browns offensive line that has had major issues and quarterback Deshaun Watson is being sacked on nearly 12% of his dropbacks, second-worst in the NFL.

Seems like the perfect time for Madubuike to register his first sack since his neck surgery, does it not?

“Every game, every practice, I'll say I feel better and better,” Madubuike said this week. “Getting better. I really feel the same, honestly. I am just thankful to be back playing football and with the guys and making plays. There are things we can clean up and we are going to continue to emphasize that and get better at that, but no, I feel good."

He is already doing some impactful things, and Madubuike leads the team in pressures since returning to action and he has allowed other players to fall into a deep rotation and take on heavy responsibilities, drawing double teams and showing that he can still collapse a pocket. At a time when the Ravens cornerbacks and free safeties are most definitely struggling no matter how they might want to couch it in Owings Mills. Getting Madubuike and Hendrickson going and working some stunts and games up front could go a long way to adding bite to a defense suffering greatly on third down.

Hendrickson Is Hungry

Hendrickson was a beast in Week 1, with Madubuike still watching, but suffered the finger injury during that game and was not as dynamic or impactful off the edge before the decision was made to have his finger operated on prior to Week 4. This is someone who routinely posted elite pressure and sack rates with the Bengals, and is expected to be a difference-maker week in and out and be that late game “closer” rookie head coach is desperate for inheriting a defense notorious for fourth-quarter collapses (and they stink in the fourth quarter this season thus far).

"I needed it Week 1,” Hendrickson said of the surgery. “I've had two healthy quarters here. It's not what I planned for the offseason, but God has a plan. It's one of the things that is very humbling, but [I was] pushing through it through Week 2 and Week 3, but the best decision for everybody was getting it fixed for [the] long-term and short-term."

Hendrickson said that he is in significantly less pain after the surgery but was less specific about whether he will need to have his hand clubbed up for some period of time moving forward.

“That's obviously an ongoing process, so we're just working it out," he said.

Just getting these two on the field for regular work at the line of scrimmage will be a big deal.

The Ravens are currently 20th in the NFL in pressure rate and 21st in sack rate. Tavius Robinson has been their most consistent sacker of the quarterback. All of that should start to change soon enough.

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