{"id":55906,"date":"2025-06-14T08:23:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T08:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55906"},"modified":"2025-06-14T08:23:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T08:23:17","slug":"ravens-rookies-could-form-dominant-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55906","title":{"rendered":"Ravens Rookies Could Form Dominant Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"lzy it-large_16_9\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" flipboard-image\" src=\"http:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ybmedia\/image\/upload\/c_crop,e_improve,h_513,w_912,x_0,y_0\/c_fill,f_auto,h_900,q_auto,w_1600\/v1\/m\/7\/a\/7abe57d002bc4b3054da241ca6191834178cbbb1\/01jxkfbned7xk8b7embn.jpg\" alt=\"Ravens Rookies Could Form Dominant Defense\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" \/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"aph_inner\">\n<div class=\"image-caption\"><span class=\"image-description\">NFL commissioner Roger Goodell with Georgia Bulldogs safety Malaki Starks after he is selected by the Baltimore Ravens. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/span>\u00a0Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"ac_102514197\" class=\"article_chunk type_50\">\n<div class=\"froala-view custom-theme first_text_block\">\n<p>The\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0are known for always having a strong defense. That&#8217;s been woven into the craft of the franchise&#8217;s culture, and that has been maintained for many years.<\/p>\n<p>This offseason, the Ravens prioritized improving the defense, using their first two draft picks on that side of the ball.<\/p>\n<p>NFL.com writer Jeffri Chadiha believes the Ravens could become one of the best defenses in the league thanks to their new additions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Baltimore has high hopes for its first two picks in this year&#8217;s draft, as safety\u00a0Malaki Starks\u00a0and edge rusher\u00a0Mike Green\u00a0have the potential to help this defense immediately,&#8221;\u00a0Chadiha wrote.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Starks is versatile and has a nose for the football, so the expectation is that he&#8217;ll learn fast.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Green was a first-round talent who slipped into the second round because of\u00a0off-field concerns, and he might end up being one of the steals of the draft. He led the FBS in sacks in 2024, and his athleticism &#8212; he played wide receiver in high school and linebacker at Virginia before finishing at Marshall &#8212; could make him disruptive in Year 1.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[Defensive coordinator Zach] Orr admitted to local reporters that this defense learned a lot about itself by dealing with those growing pains in his first year on the job. The additions of Starks and Green should make that process much easier this fall.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Ravens already have one of the best offenses in the NFL, with Lamar Jackson leading the way through the air and Derrick Henry taking care of things on the ground. Their offense is good enough to carry the team into the playoffs, but they need the defense to step up as well.<\/p>\n<p>If the defense can be one of the better units in the league, the\u00a0Ravens\u00a0could be heading to the Super Bowl this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NFL commissioner Roger Goodell with Georgia Bulldogs safety Malaki Starks after he is selected by the Baltimore Ravens. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images\u00a0Kirby Lee-Imagn Images The\u00a0Baltimore Ravens\u00a0are&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ravens Rookies Could Form Dominant Defense - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=55906\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ravens Rookies Could Form Dominant Defense - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NFL commissioner Roger Goodell with Georgia Bulldogs safety Malaki Starks after he is selected by the Baltimore Ravens. 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