OTL: Dreaming of a Pass Rush Like Philly’s

For Ravens Flock, the Super Bowl trouncing of the Chiefs meant a little more than some schadenfreude for Baltimore fans. Not only is Kansas City similarly up against the salary cap like Baltimore, but the Chiefs also looked mortal in the postseason for the first time in a long time. I don’t want to make this a “what did the Chiefs do wrong” think piece, because I think it detracts from what should be the bigger story: the Eagles did a whole lot right, and in an increasingly copycat league, it’s likely that you’ll see top contenders emulate what made them so successful in this game. Namely, pass rush.

The Eagles were a terrible matchup for the Ravens.

Most of the losses this year were teams getting home with a 4 man rush. That’s literally all the Eagles did last night. https://t.co/dount3J8b8

— Cole Jackson (@ColeJacksonFB) February 10, 2025

Screw it.

Take only lineman on both sides of the ball with all 11 picks this draft @Ravens

Trench football is so back.

— Zach Bollinger (@zachbollinger18) February 10, 2025

To Cole’s point, Philly was maybe the only opponent that felt like they well and truly outplayed Baltimore this year, and it wasn’t even with the premier stars at offensive skill positions. Sure, Saquon broke off a big one at the end of the game and the secondary inexplicably let A.J. Brown do whatever he wanted for the first part of the game, but the contest came down to the Eagles establishing themselves well in the trenches. The pass rush that they were able to generate against the Ravens earlier this year when just sending four was explosive, and we saw it again on Sunday.

Eagles pass rush in the Super Bowl

– ZERO blitzes
– 26 pressures
– 6 sacks
– 42.9% pressure percentage pic.twitter.com/5pKQkKdSvj

— PFF (@PFF) February 10, 2025

Without sending a single blitz, the Eagles dragged KC’s O-line all night. Even as elusive as Patrick Mahomes is, there’s only so much that he could do as the Philly’s front four kicked the doors in and brought pressure in a hurry. That unit’s construction shows a masterclass from both their front office and their coaching staff in being able to not only spot the high-upside guys in the draft process, but to also be able to develop them in-house.

Sure, you saw how disruptive a force Jalen Carter was all year. I’ll keep my personal feelings to myself about the reason he was in a position for the Eagles to draft him in the first place, because that unit’s depth and upside went so far beyond what Carter was able to do in the postseason. Contributions from guys like Jalyx Hunt and Milton Williams, each of them third round picks, were huge in the Super Bowl, and I was reminded of what made each of them such intriguing prospects during their Draft cycles: athletic upside.

Jalyx Hunt was drafted in round 3 pick 94 in the 2024 draft class. He scored a 9.22 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 141 out of 1798 DE from 1987 to 2024. https://t.co/r7ZZttioWa pic.twitter.com/q9Syy4u36w

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 27, 2024

Just a reminder about Milton Williams’ pro day results. Traits and explosiveness matters. pic.twitter.com/uubeBxY2P0

— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) February 10, 2025

Hunt was an especially good pull given that he transferred from Cornell to Houston Christian, an FCS school, and I’m sure front offices had questions about his pedigree given the level of competition. No such questions linger anymore, as his explosiveness made him a part of a unit that performs well with all of the pieces operating as a whole.

The Ravens have taken swings at developing the pass rush, but the results have been hit and miss. Odafe Oweh recorded his first double-digit sack season this year, as well as 9.5 runs stuffed. Nnamdi Madubuike’s sack numbers were more pedestrian after an explosive year in 2023, but he was also blocked at one of the highest rates of double-teams of any interior defender in the league. With Coach Chuck Smith in the fold, the development of the young pass rushing group will hopefully continue, but outside of that Oweh, Madubuike (and some brief flashes from Tavius Robinson), the pass rush has been mostly reliant on veteran production from guys like Kyle Van Noy, Jadeveon Clowney and Justin Houston in recent seasons.  The high-upside rookies that they’ve brought in just haven’t panned out the way the Eagles group has, and as much as it would be nice to continue to hold out hope for guys like David Ojabo or a developmental player like Malik Hamm, the Ravens need a true difference-maker at the position. Unfortunately, if they’re worried about being able to develop *that* player in-house as a rookie, the market for those players in free agency is limited.

If your outlook on this upcoming offseason for the Ravens is they need to get Garrett, Crosby, or Parsons otherwise it is a failure I’d suggest you just start chalking it up as a failure.

— RAMEY (@HoodieRamey) February 10, 2025

The good news is that this class has impact pass-rushers available. The bad news is that, should Ronnie Stanley price himself out of Baltimore, the 1^st-round selection would likely have to be spent on another tackle, meaning the Ravens will have to fish for pass rush talent in the 2^nd or later. What does that mean? Another raw, developmental talent at EDGE with high athletic upside.

Maybe it pays off one of these days when they add the right piece. For now, we’re coming off of a season in which the Ravens were 29^th in Pass Rush Win Rate per ESPN Analytics. It’s not easy to build what the Eagles have or everyone would be doing it, but I’d love to see this Ravens squad look a little meaner up front.

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