ExtremeRavens Posted October 15 Posted October 15 The addition of edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens’ practice squad last month provided depth at a position of need. Now, he’ll be sticking around for a while. Baltimore signed the nine-year veteran to its active roster Tuesday, releasing offensive lineman Sala Aumavae-Laulu to make room on the roster. The move is timely. The Ravens had already used two of the allowable three elevations on Ngakoue each of the past two games. And with other teams circling to potentially sign the 29-year-old from their practice squad — the Detroit Lions were one team looking for a pass rusher after season-ending injuries to Aidan Hutchinson on Sunday and Marcus Davenport last month — it was prudent to make sure they didn’t lose him. “Every time I see him, he tells me how excited he is to be here and how he’s got our backs and everything like that,” coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “I see it in the way he’s practicing and the way he’s playing. He played tremendously well, which was not a surprise because we saw him practice that way. [He’s been a] big addition; [he’s a] big addition to our team; very excited with the way he’s rolling.” That was evident in Sunday’s win over the Commanders. With Baltimore leading 30-20 with just over five minutes to go and Washington facing second-and-7 from their own 47, Ngakoue quickly burst around the outside of left tackle Brandon Coleman, chased quarterback Jayden Daniels from behind and dragged him to the ground. It was his first sack since rejoining the Ravens and the 70th of his career. The moment was not lost on Harbaugh, who presented the former Maryland star and Washington D.C. native with a game ball in the locker room afterwards. “I’m not a real good public speaker like that,” Ngakoue, sweat still pouring down his cheeks, said after embracing Harbaugh, “but I just wanna leave ya’ll with this: Life is short, man, and going back to what coach said … you gotta cherish every moment, cherish every opportunity.” The Ravens hope that means a more fruitful output than the last time Ngakoue was with the team. YAN MAKING PLAYS Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/XDt6L0aEst — Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) October 13, 2024 In October 2020, Baltimore traded a 2021 third-round pick and 2022 fifth-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for the former 2015 third-rounder. What they hoped for and what they got turned out to be different things. Ngakoue, who has been a more reliable pass rush specialist than run defender in his career, had just three sacks across nine games (three starts) and played 30 defensive snaps in his final game of the regular season before just a combined 41 snaps in Baltimore’s two playoff games. That included a 17-3 divisional round loss to the Bills in Buffalo, where he failed to register a mark on the stat sheet. Still, pass rushers are a valuable commodity and Ngakoue, a Pro Bowl selection in 2017, went on to sign a two-year, $26 million free-agent deal with the Raiders that offseason. In Las Vegas, he had 10 sacks then followed with 9 1/2 for the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. But after signing a one-year deal with the Bears in 2023, he struggled for Chicago as a pass rusher, ranking last among 55 qualifying edge rushers with a win rate of just 4.8%, per Pro Football Focus. Perhaps returning to Baltimore can rekindle some old magic, though. Ngakoue was once a teammate of outside linebackers coach Matt Robinson at Maryland. He’s also known pass rush coach Chuck Smith for years after having first trained with him in Atlanta when he was in college. And he’s happy to have a second chance in a city where his first didn’t go as well as anyone hoped. “I love the locker room, I love the guys here,” Ngakoue said last month. “We have a great quarterback, and I just want to be able to help get the ball back to the offense.” With the trade deadline still a few weeks away, his addition has come at a good time. Though the Ravens have the fifth-most sacks (19) in the league and have the seventh-highest pass rush grade, per PFF, Baltimore also ranks 24th in points allowed per game (24.8) and 31st in passing yards allowed per game (275.7). Adding Ngakoue to a group that includes outside linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh, both of whom rank in the top 11 in pass rush win rate, per ESPN analytics, should help a Baltimore defense that is already tops in the league against the run but collectively ranks 12th in pass rush win rate. And so far, so good. Sunday, Ngakoue had three pressures, two hurries and a sack on just 13 snaps. In the Ravens’ overtime win over the Bengals in Cincinnati the week before, he also had a hit on quarterback Joe Burrow. In all, he’s had four pressures, two hurries and one sack in 24 snaps across the two games. “I believe the pass rush played its best game in a lot of ways in this last game,” Harbaugh said a day after the victory over Washington. “The pass rush had a really good disciplined game; lane-integrity game; kept the quarterback in, which was their best game of doing that. That contributed a lot this week in a positive way.” Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1. View the full article Quote
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