Whatever it takes, the Ravens are determined to have a stout pass rush next season.
The franchise's brain trust is scouring this week's NFL Combine looking for prospects, and the 2026 class is deep with edge rushers.
However, Baltimore won't depend on the draft to provide all the answers. Signing or trading for a veteran pass rusher is a possibility. The Ravens expect young players on the roster, like outside linebacker Mike Green, to be more productive after another year of experience.
Meanwhile, New Head Coach Jesse Minter has spent the past two seasons orchestrating a successful pass rush scheme as the Los Angeles Chargers' defensive coordinator. As he prepares for his first season as Baltimore's defensive play-caller, Minter is confident Baltimore's pass rush will be a problem for opposing quarterbacks.
"There's a lot of factors, I would say, that go into rushing the passer well," Minter said. "Sometimes, it's playing with the lead; sometimes it's blitzing more. So, I think there's a variety of ways to affect the pass rush.
"I feel like we have some guys that can do that, some young, ascending players in that regard, that can help us there. It's always a position that you're looking for more, and so I know [General Manager] Eric [DeCosta] and the guys will do a great job attacking free agency and the draft in building a team that in September that we feel has the ability to rush the passer."
The Ravens aren't pretending that last year's pass rush was good enough. Defensive tackle Travis Jones was a bright spot with a career-high five sacks to lead the team, while Tavius Robinson (4.5 sacks) and Green (3.5) showed bright spots as young players.
However, the Ravens dropped from 54 sacks in 2024 to just 30 in 2025, their fewest since 2010, when they had 27. Minter and DeCosta want a pass rush that forces turnovers and closes out games, which can be a major component of a championship-caliber team.
"We certainly know that we have to augment the pass rush and improve there, and when we look at the best defenses, we see a ferocious pass rush, and that was lacking this year for different reasons," DeCosta said. "It's something that we feel strongly that we can attack this year in the offseason, whether it's through free agency or the draft."
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This could be another year when the Ravens draft a pass rusher early. Last year, they took Green in the second round, and in 2023, they selected outside linebacker Adisa Isaac in the third round. There are prospects in April's draft who are catching the Ravens' eye.
"In fact, I was just in my room at the hotel looking at a pass rusher," DeCosta said on Tuesday. "We like this draft class in terms of pass rush, edge rush ability, and the ability to get up field and impact the passing game.
"I'm excited about that. I feel certain that we'll have a chance to add a couple draft picks this year who can help us on third downs."
The consensus top three pass rushers in this year's draft are David Bailey of Texas Tech, Rueben Bain Jr. of Miami, and Arvell Reese of Ohio State, who are expected to be top 10 picks. Assuming none of them fall to the Ravens at No. 14, other potential first-round edge rushers include Keldric Faulk of Auburn, T.J. Parker of Clemson, and Ahkeem Mesidor of Miami.
The Ravens have a large group of pending free agents, so it's hard to predict what their roster will look like when free agency and the draft are over. Even when training camp begins, they could add a veteran pass rusher who becomes available. They've done that in the past when they've signed Kyle Van Noy, who's a pending free agent, Jadeveon Clowney, and Justin Houston, among others.
Minter wants a defense that's fast and furious about getting to opposing quarterbacks. Historically, a strong pass rush is usually part of Baltimore's defensive DNA, and Minter doesn't want that to change.
"We're still in the middle of formulating our system for the 2026 Ravens," Minter said. "It's not the Chargers defense or the old Ravens defense. We're kind of figuring that out right now, so we're looking for the best players that sort of fit, structurally, how we want those certain positions to be able to play, the jobs we need them to be able to do, and kind of piecing it together that way."
