Ravens Backers

The Baltimore Ravens are still a fairly new team in name. They were the Cleveland Browns but that name and history is stricken from their past. In their nearly twenty years, the Ravens have been best known for their defense. Linebacker Ray Lewis can be thanked for that. Simply by being a part of the group he made the Ravens linebackers a force. He retired after their last championship in 2012. It may have only taken a year for the Ravens linebackers to become a force again.

Part of my fondness for the Baltimore Ravens linebackers is due to two of their youngest players. Kansas St.'s Arthur Brown was one of my favorite players in the 2013 NFL Draft. Alabama's C.J. Mosley was one of my favorite players in the 2014 NFL Draft. The Ravens selected Brown in the second round last year. Deciding that one terrific young linebacker wasn't enough, the Ravens grabbed Mosley in the first round this year. It sounds like both are competing for the same spot in the starting lineup. The Ravens should find a way to get both on the field at the same time. One of the problems with that is the linebacker talent on the roster. Ray Lewis isn't the only linebacker from 2012 no longer on the roster. The Ravens also lost Paul Kruger and Dannell Ellerbe to free agency following the Super Bowl win. That's a lot of talent to lose at once. The Ravens added longtime Jacksonville Jaguar middle linebacker Daryl Smith last offseason. His presence in the middle of the defense helped replace the tackles and leadership lost when Lewis left for his trip to Canton. Kinkos helped make possible the addition of Elvis Dumervil last year. He replaced Kruger's pass rushing presence. Then you have Terrell Suggs. "T-Sizzle." It seems like he's been around forever so it's amazing that he's only 31. Brown, Mosley, Smith, Dumervil, and Suggs alone make up a real nice linebacker group. But, there's more. There's Pernell McPhee. There's Josh Bynes. There's Mosley's former Alabama teammate Courtney Upshaw. The Ravens can go two deep with starter-level talent. Their likely starters are probably right behind a healthy San Francisco 49ers group (and that's a group that's among the best in league history). No team can touch the Ravens depth at the position. That's amazing considering they lost Lewis, Kruger, and Ellerbe only a year ago. It's tough to take Smith out of the starting lineup but I'd be real excited to see these four linebackers starting for the Ravens this fall:

Terrell Suggs
Arthur Brown
C.J. Mosley
Elvis Dumervil

No matter how the linebacker competition shakes out in training camp, defensive coordinator Dean Pees and head coach John Harbaugh have to be happy with their backers.