Ravens L.J. Fort believes in rookie LBs and is open to playing anywhere to help the team win

Most of the talk and hype surrounding the Baltimore Ravens inside linebacker position heading into training camp and now that it is underway has been focused on the pair of rookies that the team picked up in this year’s draft. Patrick Queen was selected in the first round out of LSU and Malik Harrison was taken in the third round out of Ohio State.

However, veteran L.J. Fort is the most experiment player in the position group as a seven-year veteran. He is expected to be one of the key contributors on both defense and special teams heading into his first full season with the team.

Fort was a part of the influx of veteran free agent talent that Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta brought in off the street after the defense struggled to find its footing out of the gate, especially in the front seven.

Before joining the Ravens, Fort was a bit of a journeyman, playing for five different teams before coming to Baltimore. One of his spots included a four-year stint with the Ravens’ arch division rival Pittsburgh Steelers from 2015-2018.

He and fellow unrestricted free agent signee Josh Bynes were in the rotation that helped offset the loss of four-time Pro Bowler CJ Mosely in the middle of the defense. He appeared in 12 games for the Ravens in 2019, started eight of them, and finished the year with 35 combined tackles-four for loss—two sacks, a pass deflection, and a pair of quarterback hits.

Even though he arrived after the season had already begun and he had to learn on the fly, Fort showed enough to earn a two-year extension worth $5.5 million in November. Now that he has had an offseason fully digest his playbook, he believes that he’ll be able to play a lot faster because he won’t have to think as much.

“I’m a lot more comfortable with the defense and the scheme and everything this year,” Actually getting the full install of the plays and everything has been great. Definitely a lot less thinking on the field and just flying around and playing.”

Fort is one of the most versatile defenders on the Ravens roster with his ability to stuff the run and play the pass in both zone and man coverage. He can play either inside linebacker positions and even lined on the edge last season in certain situations and packages as the SAM outside linebacker.

While Queen is slated to start at the MIKE linebacker spot, Fort is competing with Harrison to start alongside him at the WILL position. He has been running with the first-team defense during training camp and likes what he is seeing from the young linebackers.

“They’ve done a great job already. You can tell the jumps they made already from Day 1 to now. The talent’s there,” Fort said.

“Patrick Queen, he’s what you want in a first-round pick. He understands defensive concepts. He has some dog in him. He’s going to be as good as he wants to be. … Malik’s right there. He has a big frame. He just has to work on his technique and be able to use it. He’s going to be a great player as well.”

He’s been helping the two first-year defenders work on their technique and fundamentals and Queen said that Fort has been showing him how to do things the right way.

Fort is one of the better special teams players in the league and even though be could open the season as a starter on defense, he still wants to be a factor in the third phase as well if that is what is asked of him. He’s committed to playing whatever role the team needs him to help them win.

“I’m looking to go out to play. It’s whatever the coaches want me to do,” Fort said. “If it’s to play linebacker at a high level, I’m preparing to do that. If it’s [to] be a special teams ace, I’ll be ready to do that. Anything to help this team win, that’s what I’m about.”