Kudos to Wink and the Defense

[leachisabeast]

I know some of you will say that its what you expect due to the investment we've made on the defensive side of the ball... but let's also not forget that plenty of teams in the NFL spend a lot of money on their defense and get torched more regularly than ours does. A lot of draft capital has also gone into the offense since 2017, so its not like in the past where we've completely abandoned the offense to build an elite defense.

But the one positive we can take away from that was the performance of our defense in the play offs and Wink Martindale. I'm so glad he will be back (should be providing no last minute surprises come up) next season.

If we can bring back at least two of our free agent OLBs and Wolf, I think we will be ok and can almost fully focus on upgrading the offensive side of the ball. Although I'd argue that we could do with another pass rusher and a dime safety.

If we can get the pass game going and sustain the same defense for next season, I think that we can take that next step. Easier said that done of course.

[WNCRavensFan]

The defense, with or without Wink, is facing the need to infuse the front seven with talent, along the DL and at EDGE. This includes resigning the right guys. But for argument's sake, if they don't, here's what it looks like:

NT - Brandon Williams, ???
DT - Justin Madubuike, Broderick Washington
DE - Calais Campbell, ???

RUSH - Jaylon Ferguson, ???
MLB - Patrick Queen, Chris Board
WLB - LJ Fort, Malik Harrison, Kristian Welch
SAM - ???????????

[The Excellector]

Wink, to his credit, has gotten as much out of that front seven as one could hope.

[Ravensblitzkrieg]

Wink, to his credit, has gotten as much out of that front seven as one could hope.

Yannick looked fat and slow all season!

Judon looked like judon. Probably leads the league in “almost sacks”.

[houstonravensfan]

Good post, leach. My concerns: age on D line; lack of shining talent at ILB, UFAs at OLB and lack of speed at S. Wink has done a great job, but next year could be a bigger challenge.