An All-22 Review of the D-Line vs. Cleveland

Well, last Sunday may have resulted in a disappointing loss to Cleveland, but there’s still plenty of questions to be answered. Heck, at this point there’s probably more questions than answers when it comes to the 2013 Ravens. I decided to take a closer look at the defensive line to really see what the team is working with. Lots of people want to know where Ngata’s been, how Canty’s been playing, and what we’ve got in Brandon Williams. I’ll attempt to answer all of those questions and more.

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Let’s Start at the Beginning

In order to really assess the defensive linemen, we need to understand their roles in this Ravens defense. The Ravens play almost exclusively a 3-4, and that’s important, because the roles of 3-4 defensive linemen are vastly different than linemen in a 4-3.

At its most basic, the 3-4 requires its defensive linemen to eat up a blocker by occupying two adjacent run lanes which allows the linebackers to get to the running back or to get a clean release to the quarterback. Traditionally, the 3-4 features a nose tackle lined head-up over the center and two defensive ends lined head-up over the offensive tackles (Okie Front). Check out the picture below for this classic 3-4 look. (Also, as a bonus, look at that first step from Suggs. The ball was snapped a second before this shot. The only other player to react as quickly? Browns LT Joe Thomas.)

Playing defensive line in a 3-4 isn’t very glamorous, since linemen are busy occupying space rather than posting big sack and tackle numbers. And for the most part, this worked out for the Ravens against Cleveland. The line kept Daryl Smith clean and he made a lot of plays. However, this is also a very basic and incomplete explanation for why Ngata seems to be “invisible” this year.

Part of the problem, too, is that – in my opinion – Ngata is being asked to play out of position a lot. There was talk at the beginning of the year of transforming him into a true 0-tech nose tackle, and at this point, I’d say that’s not working out for the Ravens. I think Ngata can two-gap as a 3-tech, but I also think he’s an effective 1-tech, which is typically more of a 1-gapping DT in a 4-3.

A better example of a really good 3-4 NT is Vince Wilfork. He’s enormous but also athletic and extremely good at 2-gapping. It’s borderline impossible to run through either A gap against Wilfork. Ngata, though, just doesn’t look the part when he’s playing this position.

Of course, Ngata isn’t the only one playing nose tackle. In fact, the Browns game looked like musical chairs along the defensive line. Ngata, Canty, Art Jones, Brandon Williams, and Terrence Cody all got a shot at playing 0-tech – including in some of the Ravens crazier fronts that use just one down lineman. Meanwhile, Jones, Canty, Ngata, Pernell McPhee, and Cody all took turns playing 3-4 defensive end as well as 2-4-5 defensive tackle.

Let’s take a brief look at each player to see what they contributed.

Brandon Williams

Over the past month, Williams has been seeing about 10-20 snaps per game, mostly at 0-tech nose tackle. This may seem like good news for his supporters, since he’s seeing playing time in his rookie year. Sadly, Williams looks disastrous. I know , but the tape is ugly. Williams seems to lack most of the important aspects of his position: he’s bad at using leverage (he plays high AND off-balance), he’s terrible at hand fighting, and he lacks explosiveness off the line.

Check out the play below, for example.

Here’s Williams (#98) right after the snap. He’s actually gotten off the line pretty quickly, but is playing too high. The center gets underneath Williams’ pads right away, whereas Williams is pretty much pushing on the center’s shoulders.

Here you can see the RG getting a good chip on Williams, who is playing with a shallow stance and a high center of gravity. Compare his feet to #99 Canty, to the left. Eliminating Williams from the play will be all too easy for the Browns linemen.

And down goes Williams. Unfortunately, this play isn’t an isolated incident. B-Will looks totally ineffective when he’s on the field. He likes to just lean on the man in front of him rather than fighting to keep the O-lineman from locking him up, and consequently he’s easily taken out of a play.

Chris Canty

Canty, on the other hand, was the most impressive d-lineman in the Cleveland game. To be fair, he doesn’t face nearly as many double teams as, say, Ngata does, but Canty has good pass rush skills and is effective versus the run, too. At this point, Canty is one of the most underrated offseason acquisitions for the Ravens. Without him, the depth along the defensive line would be dangerously thin.

When he was signed, Canty was touted as a pass-rushing interior lineman. But he is pretty effective as a 3-4 DE too. He sheds blocks well and came up with several big run stops against the Browns last Sunday. Here’s one example below.

At first it looks like Canty has been taken out of this play. His initial rush to the inside is sealed off by the Browns left tackle, who is double teaming Canty with the play-side guard. However, the guard is going to peel off and move to the second level to take on LB Daryl Smith. Then, Canty is going to fight free of the remaining block and make a very strong run stop.

Canty is also a strong pass rusher, as everyone expected when the team signed him in the offseason. He’s explosive and is a very good hand fighter. He also has great length, and for being so tall, he’s surprisingly agile. In the play below, he absolutely embarrasses  Browns RT Mitchell Schwartz.

Post-snap, you see Canty engaged with the tackle. It’s hard to tell from the picture, but he’s fighting with both hands to keep #72 from locking him up. Canty is then going to make a quick inside move and step right around the less athletic Browns lineman.

Campbell, to his credit, gets the throw off under incredible pressure – even though he very nearly throws an INT to Daryl Smith, at the top of the picture. Campbell then gets absolutely leveled. This play was really just the beginning of a long, painful outing for the Browns QB.

All-in-all, Canty is one of the three best linemen on the Ravens. He’s clearly suited for the DE role, even though the Ravens tried to use him at 0-tech in some of their one down lineman fronts. In these instances, facing a double team from the center and guard, Canty was totally ineffective.

Unfortunately, it seems like the Ravens are just throwing everything at the nose tackle position until they find something that sticks. It appears they have a bunch of good 3- and 5-techs, but no true 0-tech for their 3-4 base.

Haloti Ngata

Like I said before, Ngata was playing a lot of nose tackle against the Browns. He doesn’t appear to have the size or strength necessary to play this position, though. Rather than bulling the center and occupying both A gaps, he wants to dance around the block and use his agility to get to the ball.

I don’t want to be too hard on Ngata, though. The Ravens are asking a LOT of their best defensive lineman, and he’s doing as much as he can to shore up a surprising position of weakness. In just one drive, the Ravens had Ngata playing four different spots along the defensive line. He’s extremely smart and can change his responsibility on the fly, which should not go unnoticed.

But to make matters worse for Ngata, the defensive gameplan against Cleveland was extremely vanilla along the front. After Kansas City whooped the Browns line with twists and stunts, the Ravens (for no apparent reason) used almost none. I counted two stunts in the whole game. Without any creativity from the defense, the Browns line didn’t have to think very hard about their blocking assignments.

As far as his health, I think Ngata looked fine. I saw some bursts of quickness, and he was in the backfield disrupting runs here and there. I really just don’t think he’s being put in position to succeed by the current scheme.

Art Jones

Art Jones has been a bright spot for this unit. He showed flashes in the past but looks like a more complete player this season. Good thing, too – he rounds out the starting rotation on the line, and without him, there would undoubtedly be a glaring weakness in the 3-4 front.

Jones’ strength appears to be stopping the run, though he is serviceable as a pass rusher, too. But I counted at least four impressive stops/disruptions in the run game versus Cleveland. Jones was making it tough for them to move the ball on the ground all day long.

In the play below, Jones appears to be off balance. The Browns lineman has a solid block and there is a huge lane for the running back. However, Jones is extremely good at using leverage to beat his man.

In the shot below, you see Jones has defeated the block and shifted his weight to the play-side hip of the Browns lineman. Suddenly, the running lane doesn’t appear so open for the Browns RB.

Finally, Jones squares up and buries the RB for no gain. 

Art Jones’ development as our third defensive lineman has been crucial for this unit, particularly after the team attempted to move McPhee to more of a linebacker role. To the organization’s credit, they clearly had faith in Jones when they purposefully thinned the depth behind him – and they’ve been rewarded. Jones is pretty much a beast, though I’m sure no one outside of Baltimore knows who he is.

Terrence Cody

Oh Terrence Cody. Where to begin? Might as well start with the good news, right? The good news is that Cody actually looks a little better than he has in the past. He’s healthier now than he’s been all season, and his knee looks fine after suffering a sprain in September. But…that’s about where it ends. Deep down, this is still the same Terrence Cody, and much like Brandon Williams, I don’t have much faith in him going forward.

Cody’s first step is agonizingly slow. He shows no explosiveness and is awkward on his feet. It looks like his weight, which should be an advantage, is actually detracting from his play. He’s pancaked WAY too often for a man of his size, and even when he’s on his feet, he’s ineffectively leaning against a blocker.

From my notes, “I consistently see Cody doing…nothing.”

Summary

I, like many others, thought the defensive line was one of our team’s biggest strengths. Unfortunately, I’m no longer convinced of that. Ngata, Jones, and Canty are fine, but the depth behind them is really bad. Additionally, I just don’t think the team has a good enough two-gapping nose tackle to really make a traditional 3-4 work. It’s caused the Ravens to try all kinds of other looks along the defensive line, but they can’t seem to find anything to hang their hat on.

Also, the line is pretty bad against zone blocking plays. Campbell had a ton of space on some naked boots, and most zone runs went for good gains. Now, the Browns run much more of a power scheme, so this wasn’t an issue last week, but against a zone blocking team, expect the line to really struggle.

Finally, it’s been said before by everyone, but I feel the need to reiterate: Suggs is an absolute beast. Our front seven would be a mess without him. Our whole defense hinges on his ability to defend the run and rush the passer with equal ability. Suggs for Defensive POY.