ExtremeRavens Posted Tuesday at 10:30 PM Posted Tuesday at 10:30 PM Nnamdi Madubuike followed up a tour de force 2023 — 13 sacks and his first All-Pro nod — with a not-so-flashy 6 1/2 sacks worthy of a Pro Bowl bid in 2025. But the Ravens defensive tackle knows there’s more to quantifying individual success than the position’s primary production number. “Obviously production is for everybody but just being a tenacious force, that’s how I see it,” Madubuike said. “When you’re a good player, people are going to scheme against you and try to stop you.” Madubuike was among the top five double teamed interior defensive linemen on pass rush plays. He played 55 more snaps this past season than he did the year prior. His pass rush win rate slipped from 11.6% to 6.6%. It was a physical, dissatisfying winter. Opposing offenses keyed in on Madubuike, which frustrated him, even if it opened the gate for Baltimore’s edge rushers, two of whom notched double-digit sacks last year. “But you still want to play,” he said. “You still want to eat.” In 2023, Madubuike never went more than two weeks without bringing down the quarterback. Baltimore rewarded him with a four-year, $98 million deal. This past season, his 6 1/2 total sacks were inflated by a monstrous three-sack performance during Baltimore’s infamous Thursday Night Football win over the Cincinnati Bengals. That kept the final tally respectable. Madubuike logged two more in a playoff win vs. Pittsburgh. Still, Pro Football Focus clocked a regression in how he graded out for defense (68.3), run defense (62.5), tackling (54.4) and pass rush (69.9). So Madubuike spent this offseason game planning how he can adjust to the way teams adjusted to him. Most notably by adding a few pounds. After playing at around 285 most of last season, he spent this spring looking to add weight. His desired playing weight this fall will be around 290-300, he said, without sacrificing the burst and power that made him one of the league’s best interior defensive linemen. If the Ravens defense takes a step forward this fall and, as cornerback Marlon Humphrey has declared, it becomes the identity of the organization like it was in the early aughts and 2010s, Madubuike will be at the core. Ravens defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike sacks Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson in a wild-card game. Madubuike finished with two sacks in the postseason victory. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) Defensive line coach Dennis Johnson was asked after one optional team activity practice whether he’d like to see Madubuike’s snap count deviate to the mean following a high year. “Obviously, I wish I could take some of those snaps off,” Johnson said, “but when the game on the line or it’s close in the fourth quarter, you’re probably not going to look at the snap reps. You’re going to make sure Nnamdi is out there to help you close the game out.” That approach, and the extra attention from offensive line coaches, is a byproduct of Madubuike’s success. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler recently ranked the top-10 defensive tackles for 2025, as configured by anonymous executives, coaches and scouts. Fowler slotted Madubuike seventh, after ranking him inside the top five a year ago. Some of the statistical regression, Fowler pointed out, was affected by the way the Ravens secondary struggled early the first half of the season. More obviously, there fewer one-on-one opportunities. Madubuike knows his sack total wasn’t where he wanted it to be. It’s not the only measure of his success. It’s still one he’s hoping to correct. All this extra attention, “it’s a good thing,” he said, “and I appreciate it. But I definitely want to keep being productive.” Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. View the full article Quote
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