The Ravens allowed Jadeveon Clowney, who recorded 9.5 sacks in 2023, to depart in free agency, and they have not added a veteran replacement. Additionally, Baltimore did not select a pass rusher until the third round of this year’s draft (Adisa Isaac), so the club will be counting on several young, internal options to step up as it seeks to replicate its league-leading sack production (60 total sacks) from last season.
One such youngster is David Ojabo. The Ravens selected Ojabo in the second round of the 2022 draft, taking a chance on a player with first-round talent whose stock fell because of an Achilles tear he suffered during Michigan’s pro day that year. Since the Ravens knew beforehand that Ojabo would essentially have to redshirt his rookie year, the fact that he appeared in only two games that season did not set off any alarm bells.
Unfortunately, he sustained what was originally described as a knee/ankle injury in the club’s Week 3 loss to the Colts in 2023, and he was later diagnosed with a partially-torn ACL.The four snaps he tooks in that Week 3 contest would be his last action of the 2023 campaign.
In March of this year, head coach John Harbaugh said that Ojabo is healthy and predicted a breakout season for the 24-year-old defender. That may well be the case, but as Matt Ryan of the team’s official website writes, Ojabo has been limited in Baltimore’s offseason work and will not be a full participant in the upcoming mandatory minicamp.
“His timeline, I believe, is somewhere in training camp,” Harbaugh said. “It won’t be minicamp, but it’s at some point in time once we get back for training camp.”
Like Clowney, Kyle Van Noy was a late signing who enjoyed unexpected success in Baltimore’s Mike Macdonald-coordinated defense in 2023, and he was rewarded with a new two-year accord in April. He is now the unquestioned veteran leader of an edge rush group that has plenty of promise in the form of Ojabo, Isaac, and 2021 first-rounder Odafe Oweh, but little by way of proven production. Of course, the pressure that Justin Madubuike can generate from the interior of the D-line helps to ease the burden of the edge defenders to some degree, though a quality third professional season from Ojabo would obviously be a major boost to the team’s 2024 fortunes and the player’s future earning power.
Baltimore did get a little creative with Ojabo’s roster spot this year, designating the Nigerian-born ‘backer as an international player who qualifies for a roster exemption. That move gives the Ravens the right to carry one more player than they would otherwise be allowed to have.