A Pass Rush in The Making

Four practices into training camp — three at the Castle in Owings Mills and one road show in front of 20,185 at Maryland’s SECU Stadium — and I must admit, I’m stoked about the pass rush. That said, I do try to curb the enthusiasm because I’ve seen this movie before. It starts with the defense applying consistent pressure on the quarterback only to find out later that the productive pass rush during training camp practices was more about a porous offensive line than it was about pass rusher efficiency.

Be that as it may, through the first four days, the Ravens’ pass rush doesn’t just look improved. It looks like a completely different animal. And after what we all sat through in 2025, that’s not a low bar. That’s a bar that was buried somewhere beneath the practice fields.

Let’s start with the new toy. Trey Hendrickson, the man Eric DeCosta handed a four-year, $112 million deal after the Maxx Crosby dance fell apart, wasted no time announcing his arrival. On Friday — Day 3, the day the defense truly flexed — Hendrickson beat a double team late in practice to get home on Lamar Jackson, per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley. Hensley also passed along Anthony Weaver‘s eyebrow-raising comparison: the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, who coached J.J. Watt for five seasons in Houston, says Hendrickson gives him Watt vibes — not stylistically, but in demeanor and sheer competitiveness. Weaver joked that all it takes is a little prodding and Hendrickson turns into a wrecking ball.

Hendrickson himself isn’t taking the bait on predictions. “We’re going to hit when the pads come on,” he told reporters. Good. Talk is cheap in July. But the early returns matter, and they’re loud.

And here’s the thing — it’s not just the $112 million man.

Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic wrote after Day 2 that second-year outside linebacker Mike Green has been one of the most impactful players in camp, giving the Ravens’ tackles fits and living as a “regular visitor in the backfield.” Zrebiec noted Tavius Robinson is off to a strong start as well. Our own RSR Camp Notes crew saw the same thing on Thursday — Green pushing the pocket with an expanding menu of rush moves and finishing with a “sack,” with the observation that Hendrickson’s presence on the opposite edge could open a world of possibility for the kid from Marshall.

Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Banner painted the fullest picture of Friday’s practice: after Lamar and the offense owned the first two days, the defense struck back, and the pass rush pressure was consistent throughout. Shaffer had Hendrickson, Robinson and Green all standing out against the first- and second-team offenses — and even flagged an undrafted rookie, Texas product Ethan Burke (10.5 career sacks in Austin), as a name to watch in third-string action. When your UDFAs are flashing off the edge, the room has changed.

Luke Jones of Baltimore Positive captured what this means for the guys behind the rush. Roquan Smith, asked about Hendrickson’s impact, broke into a grin: “It takes so much stress off of everyone,” Smith said, because the ball has to come out quickly. Jones also noted Green has shown good burst off the edge after a quiet rookie year — with the fair caveat that he needs to keep it up when the pads come on. And lurking behind all of it: Nnamdi Madubuike is back on the field after 10 months away with that neck injury, working off to the side for now. If Beek returns to form and Calais Campbell does his thing, this front goes from good to scary.

Day 4: A Road Show in College Park

Saturday brought something we’ve never seen — the first NFL practice ever held at SECU Stadium, and the Flock showed up 20,185 strong in the College Park heat. Our man John Hughey was there for RSR, and his notes tell you two things about this pass rush: the stars rested, and the depth didn’t miss a beat.

Per Hughey, Saturday was a veteran maintenance day. Hendrickson was absent, while Madubuike, Derrick Henry, Ronnie Stanley and Ethan Pocic were all in street clothes, with Travis Jones, John Jenkins and Teddye Buchanan still parked on the PUP list. (Calais, sadly, has been away from the team dealing with a family tragedy, per Jesse Minter.) Shaffer’s Banner dispatch from College Park confirmed the same roll call of resting vets.

So, who rushed the passer?

The next wave — and they ate.

Hughey noted that Tyler Huntley, started 11-on-11s a perfect 7-for-7 before back-to-back “sacks” killed the drive, with second-round rookie Zion Young credited with the second of them. Later, David Olajiga got home on Skylar Thompson. Sports Illustrated’s report from College Park told the same story from a wider lens: in a practice light on veteran participation, the defensive backups pretty much devoured the offensive backups in the team periods.

That’s the part that should inspire a smile.  In 2025, when the front-liners came off the field, the pass rush cratered. On Saturday, with the entire top of the depth chart in ballcaps, the rush kept coming from Young, Burke, Olajiga and friends.

One more nugget from Hughey’s notebook that says everything about the culture shift in that room: Tavius Robinson told him he spent the six weeks leading into camp with Hendrickson, “getting into his mind and learning his habits.” Your homegrown edge-setter apprenticing under a two-time 17.5-sack artist all summer? That’s how a room gets fixed.

Remember Last Summer?  

Now, let’s rewind the tape to the summer of 2025, because our Camp Notes from a year ago read like a warning label nobody in the front office bothered to read.

Last July, the pass rush conversation was built entirely on hope. We hoped Kyle Van Noy, at 34, would defy Father Time one more year. We hoped Odafe Oweh, in a contract season and 20 pounds heavier, would finally put it all together. Our Day 2 notes in 2025 said it plainly about Oweh: the added muscle and developing rush moves could make him a force — “Emphasis on ‘could’. We need to see more.” We hoped rookie Mike Green would play like the first-round talent his draft grades suggested.

We never saw more. Oweh was shipped to the Chargers by October. By season’s end, that trio of Van Noy, Oweh and Green combined for a grand total of 5.5 sacks, and the Ravens finished tied for the third-fewest sacks in football with 30 — 31st in sack percentage. The pass rush wasn’t a problem that snuck up on anyone. It was obvious in camp.

And here’s the tell from those 2025 Camp Notes that stands out in hindsight: the most dominant pass rush performances we charted last summer came from the interior. Travis Jones bulldozing Roger Rosengarten and Daniel Faalele in the big 4-on-5 drill that had the whole team circled up. Madubuike stacking solid practices. The big boys carried the show because the edges couldn’t. When the highlight of your edge coverage is a positional-battle note about whether David Ojabo makes the 53, you don’t have a pass rush. You have a wish list.

The Difference a Year Makes

Compare that to what the beat corps is telling us now. In 2025, the camp buzz was about who might emerge. In 2026, it’s about who’s actually winning reps — a proven 17.5-sack closer beating double teams, a second-year edge terrorizing tackles daily, Robinson building on a career year after a summer spent studying at Hendrickson’s feet, and depth so real that on a day the entire varsity sat, the backups still lived in the backfield in front of 20,000 fans.

Now for the obligatory cold shower…

It’s four days, and the pads don’t come on until Monday — Minter confirmed as much in College Park, with Sunday an off day first. As Hendrickson himself said, that’s when we’ll really know. Camp heroes in shorts are a Baltimore summer tradition. But last year, the warning signs were visible in July, and they became reality throughout the 2025 campaign.

This year, for the first time in a while, the signs point the other way — from the top of the depth chart to the bottom of it.

Cautious optimism. But optimism, nonetheless.

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/08/02/camp-notes/pass-rush-2026/