Opportunity Lost: Ravens Miss Out on Key Upgrade at…

The Baltimore Ravens made a couple of moves before the NFL trade deadline, swinging a deal for wide receiver Diontae Johnson and then acquiring cornerback Tre’Davious White on the day of the deadline.

Landing Johnson was certainly a coup for the Ravens, as quarterback Lamar Jackson now has a pair of super-talented receivers to throw to in Johnson and Zay Flowers.

White certainly isn’t the same player he was before the injuries, but at least he will help provide Baltimore with some much-needed depth in the secondary.

But there is one needy area that the Ravens failed to address: the pass rush.

Nikhil Mehta of Baltimore Beatdown has listed Baltimore’s pass rush as a loser of the NFL trade deadline from a team perspective.

“The Ravens are fifth in the NFL with 28 sacks, but their 30.1% pressure rate is sixth-lowest, per Next Gen Stats, leading many to call for a pass rush addition at the trade deadline,” Mehta wrote. “Azeez Ojulari and Calais Campbell were on the list of potential targets, but the Ravens weren’t willing to pony up the required draft capital to bring either player to Baltimore.”

Baltimore lost both Jadeveon Clowney and Patrick Queen to free agency during the offseason and has not really replaced either player.

Yes, the Ravens have gotten impressive individual production from players like Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh, but as a whole, their pass rush has not been entirely up to snuff.

Baltimore’s defense as a collective has been rather underwhelming this season, which is very atypical of a franchise that has always prided itself in strong defensive units.

And what is one of the most important aspects of an elite defense? A good pass rush.

We’ll see how much that affects the Ravens the rest of the way.