Off-ball linebacker is a position that can feel overshadowed at times, but teams such as the Baltimore Ravens make sure it isn’t forgotten completely.
Baltimore has arguably the best inside linebacker in the entire league in Roquan Smith, a true leader in the middle of the defense who is coming off his second-straight All-Pro season. Patrick Queen made for an excellent complement to Smith, but now that he’s gone, the Ravens are now entrusting that duty to second-year linebacker Trenton Simpson. A third-round pick out of Clemson, Simpson showed flashes as a rookie but comes into the starting role with great pressure on his shoulders.
Even still, the Ravens’ linebacker unit as a whole is still one of the better ones in the league, placing at No. 6 on a recent ranking by Gordon McGuiness of Pro Football Focus.
“This is a challenging ranking. On one hand, Roquan Smith can rival Fred Warner to be the best linebacker in the league, coming off a season in which he earned an 83.2 PFF coverage grade,” McGuiness writes. “On the other hand, the untested Trenton Simpson is set to man the second linebacker spot.He flashed against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 18 but has just 49 NFL snaps to his name.”
The teams above Baltimore are, from first to fifth, the New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots and New York Giants. Smith alone could potentially push the Ravens above a couple of those teams, but overall, it’s still hard to complain about a No. 6 ranking.
There’s little question that Smith will be fantastic once again this season, but Simpson is much more of an unknown quantity. If he can develop like the Ravens expect him to, then they could easily reclaim their spot as arguably the league’s best linebacker unit.
