After getting rolled over by Derrick Henry‘s Titans in the postseason, the Ravens have fixated on improving their defensive line this offseason.
Baltimore swung a trade for All-Pro defensive linemen Calais Campbell, applied the franchise tag to Matthew Judon and his 9.5 sacks, and then attempted to sign defensive lineman Michael Brockers away from the Rams. When the Brockers acquisition fell through following a physical, Baltimore rebounded by snatching free-agent edge rusher Derek Wolfe off the market.
In his introductory conference call, Wolfe gushed about Baltimore’s bolstering of its front seven this offseason and set a high bar for the Ravens in the upcoming season.
“We can have the best defensive line in the league for sure,” Wolfe said, per the team’s website. “We could break records, break the rushing record for (least) yards per rush. Those are the kind of goals that I like to set. Sometimes you don’t reach them, but you can get close. That helps you win.”
The most dominant rush defense of the modern era hails from Baltimore; the 2000 Ravens allowed just 970 yards, or 60.6 per game, and 2.7 yards per attempt en route to a Super Bowl victory.
Last season’s 14-2 Ravens allowed 93.4 yards per game (fifth in NFL) and 4.4 yards per attempt (20th), but their last showing was by far their worst of the season, allowing 217 yards on the ground to Henry and Tennessee in their Divisional Round upset.
As Lamar Jackson, Mark Ingram and company break rushing records on the offensive side of the ball, Wolfe hopes to instill that same excellence on his new defensive line in Baltimore, at least for one make-it or break-it season with Jackson on his rookie deal and Wolfe on his one-year contract.