The Ravens Didn't Have To Get Exotic For Trey Hendrickson To Dominate Week 1. That Was The Point

The Ravens did not do anything particularly exotic with edge rusher Trey Hendrickson in his debut Sunday. They didn’t have to.

This franchise went completely out of its comfort zone and did something it never does – pay top dollar for an outside free agent - because they had no choice with general manager Eric DeCosta failing miserably his entire career (it’s a fact) to sign or draft or trade for a consistent pass rushing presence. They gave Hendrickson, despite his age and injury history and issues against the run, $30M a year for two years because he is the type of player you don’t have to get cute scheming up and manufacturing things for.

Hendrickson, who began his career with the Saints and faces them Sunday in his home debut as a Raven, is the type of impact performer who you can leave on the right end for 25 pass rush snaps, basically give him the toughest assignment for all of those reps against the left tackle, and watch him work. And, sure, Hendrickson toggled between reps with standing up or with his hand down, and he was particularly impactful when he dipped or spun to get inside, but he’s there to get doubled by tight ends and chipped by running backs and create for others, and that he did.

Hendrickson’s debut was without a sack – he certainly contributed to sacks by others – but included five pressures and five hurries on 25 pass-rush reps, helping Tavius Robinson to basically a career day on the left side and providing immediate dividends on Baltimore’s uncharacteristic investment. Rookie head coach Minter could play dime defense almost half the time - nearly twice anyone else in the NFL in Week 1 - and still get pressure without blitzing much.

“I thought he dominated the game,” Minter said. “I think Daniel Jones was pressured on drop-backs more than any quarterback in the league yesterday. I think we pressured him on 50-plus percent of his drop-back passes … I thought our rushing overall was really effective. It is not always going to be sacks. It is going to be pressures and low passer rating, low completion percentage. I thought overall we were able to do that.”

The Numbers Were Impressive

The Ravens held the Colts to under 150 yards passing, and no plays over 25 yards. Jones wasn’t right coming back from his Achilles, the bootlegs and throws outside the pocket weren’t there, and he was under pressure. Jones averaged 5.4 yards per attempt with a QB rating of 76 when Hendrickson was on the field. Robinson had five pressures and four QB hits and a hurry playing opposite Hendrickson.

The Ravens generated a pressure rate of 45% with Hendrickson on the field.

Hendrickson nearly had a strip sack at midfield. He got creative with an inside rush, lined up on a wide technique and still shooting the A Gap to force Jones to throw the ball away on a third down when the game was still contested. For not having played a preseason, and for a guy who didn’t play the second half of last season with the Bengals due to injuries, he certainly looked the part and has a tool kit well beyond anyone who rushed the passer around here for a long time.

"Man, it seemed like our rush was close to having a crazy day," longtime corner Marlon Humphrey said. "I know Trey night have had like three near strip sacks ... It was pretty encouraging."

Of course, greater challenges await.

The Saints offensive line played a ridiculous 86 snaps Sunday in their debut, which may have an impact on Week 2. New Orleans led the NFL in pressures allowed (22), but came in top 10 in pressure rate (because of that ridiculous sample size). Left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. allowed a sack, and was beat twice, allowing a hurry and two pressures, but handling 65 dropbacks and seeing a lot of Aiden Hutchinson on the road is no easy assignment.

Banks is a natural in pass protection, and an emerging franchise left tackle and the Saints have also poured heavy resources into their interior offensive line, so this should be a nice test for the Ravens in that regard.

Early-Down Results

Early downs are not going to be Hendrickson’s forte, and Hendrickson was on the field for 10 run snaps Sunday. Colts running back Jonathan Taylor averaged 5.5 yards per carry on those plays, but the Ravens were playing a lot of dime coverage (six defensive backs) and two of their front seven starters were out with injuries (Nnamdi Madubuike and Teddye Buchanan, who could be back Sunday).

And the Colts, oddly, didn’t run at Hendrickson much at all, but when they did it generally worked in their favor with Taylor picking up an 18-yard burst and a few other nice gains. Minter has a deep a reservoir of defensive linemen, so we’ll see how these rotations go as the season plays out. But this was precisely the kind of debut the Ravens were hopeful of.

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