Elvis Dumervil and Terrell Suggs Quite an OLB Combination for Baltimore Ravens

Newly acquired Pro Bowl pass rusher Elvis Dumervil will take his physical today with the Baltimore Ravens to make his five year deal with Baltimore official. Dumervil and Terrell Suggs will now be one of the most feared pass rushing combinations in the NFL.


Dumervil, already one of the most feared pass rushers in the game, is joining a Ravens defense that lost Paul Kruger this offseason due to free agency, but in all honesty, is by far and away an upgrade from Kruger and for half the cost. Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome knows exactly what he is doing, and hopefully Baltimore fans now fully understand this. Dumervil, who is still just 29 years of age, is coming off an 11 sack season, (two more than Kruger last year) has 63.5 career sacks, 16 forced fumbles and nine fumble recoveries. In addition, Dumervil has recorded 11 or more sacks in a season three times and has had at least 8.5 sacks in five of his six full seasons.

Now, Dumervil will be opposite of the 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Terrell Suggs. Suggs, who is now 30 years old, is a five time Pro Bowler in his own right. Terrell has 84.5 career sacks in his ten NFL seasons and has also added 25 forced fumbles and 11 fumble recoveries. Suggs has had at least eight sacks in seven of his ten seasons, and should be completely healthy heading into the 2013 season, after being affected by a torn ACL that he suffered in the offseason last year and a torn biceps this season.


So what are Ravens fans looking at having in 2013? Check this out, Suggs averages around 8.4 sacks a season and Dumervil averages around 10 sacks a season, so for you math astute fans out there, Baltimore should be looking for at least 18 sacks between the quo, which trumps last year's total between Kruger and Suggs of 11. Another thing you must remember is that when you have pass rushers like this, it forces the opposing team's offense to work faster and thus should help out the Ravens secondary as well because they will not have to cover opposing receivers as long.

Lastly, ten sacks may be a low number for Dumervil, as Dumervil will be moving to outside linebacker in the 3-4 defense of Baltimore as he was a defensive end in Denver where they played the 4-3 defense. Fans shouldn't be worried however; as Dumervil has played in a 3-4 as an outside linebacker before. In fact, his NFL leading 17 sacks in 2009 came as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense, so arguably the Ravens 3-4 defense could be better for Dumervil himself.

We here at Ravens101 have been preaching it all offseason with all of the Ravens departures that fans must remember how good of a GM Newsome is, and to follow the motto, "In Ozzie we trust."

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