Tyus Bowser could be the Ravens next late bloomer at outside linebacker

Last week I wrote about how greatly rising sophomore Jaylon Ferguson would benefit from the Baltimore Ravens not addressing the outside linebacker position this offseason aside from resigning Pernell McPhee and signing a few rookies in undrafted free agency. However, he isn’t the only returning edge defender that could be poised for a breakout 2020 campaign after the team decided not to make any sizable additions opting to give their internal options a shot to rise to the occasion instead.

Entering his fourth year in the league and the final year of his rookie contract, Tyus Bowser could be the next late bloomer ready to blossom for the Ravens at the outside linebacker position. He was selected in the second round of the 2017 draft out of Houston and has failed to live up to his high draft status for a multitude of reasons that range from a bit of positional overload as a rookie to a lack of opportunities or the lack of consistency when given opportunities.

The Ravens have a recent history of players at the position not finding their footing right away and not maximizing their potential in the way the team had imagined or envisioned until the final year of their rookie contracts or once they’ve signed elsewhere. In 2018, Za’Darius Smith broke out in the final year of his rookie deal and led the team with 8.5 sacks. He parlayed that boom in production into a four-year deal with the Green Bay Packers worth $66 million and had the best season of his career to date in 2019 with 13.5 sacks. He made his first Pro Bowl and formed arguably the best pass-rushing tandem in the league with Preston Smith, no relation, nicknamed the “Smith Bros”.

Before Smith, there was Paul Kruger, who was drafted in the second round of the 2009 draft out of Utah but didn’t break out until his fourth year with the team in 2012. He was an instrumental piece of the defense during the Ravens’ run to the Superbowl that year as a situational pass rusher. He recorded a then career-high 9.5 sacks in the regular season and a whopping 4.5 in the postseason, two of which came in the big game. He signed a five-year deal worth $40 million with the division rival Cleveland Browns in the following offseason and recorded a career-best 11 sacks a year later in 2014.

Bowser is a different breed than both Smith and Kruger who were outside linebacker/defensive end hybrids and predominantly rushed the passer with one hand in the dirt or turf. He brings more versatility to the table as both a stand up or hand in the dirt edge rusher and in coverage, especially when dropping into a zone more so than straight man to man. He never registered double-digit sacks in a single season in college but his 14.5 in his final two seasons that included a career-best 8.5 as a senior enticed the Ravens enough to pick him so high despite the lack of eye-popping production.

He showed off his athleticism at the combine by testing off the charts, he moves well and space and can get after the quarterback with great bend and speed off the edge. While he doesn’t resemble the typical mold of outside linebacker that the Ravens usually target, his versatile skillset does liken to some of the do-it-all defenders that are becoming more and more popular in today’s game. The New England Patriots covet such players and have won multiple Superbowl titles with multifaceted linebackers like Donta Hightower, Jamie Collins, and Kyle Van Noy being movable chess pieces in their complex defensive scheme.

As a rookie the Ravens tried using Bowser in a similar fashion, playing him in multiple spots along the front seven, including both inside and outside linebacker. He flashed at times in his jack of all trades role and even received Defensive Rookie of the Week honors in Week 2 that year after recording a pair of tackles, a sack, a quarterback hit, a pass deflection and an interception that helped seal the  Ravens’ victory over the Browns. That game wound up being the highlight of his inaugural season in the league because he finished the year with just three sacks and 11 total tackles.

During his sophomore season, while Smith was breaking out, he was the odd man out of the outside linebacker rotation between Smith, Terrell Suggs, and Matthew Judon. He appeared in 15 games that year but was primarily used on special teams and recorded just half a sack and the same number of total tackles that he did as a rookie.

Despite the departure of both Smith and Suggs via free agency last offseason, Bowser still didn’t emerge as a starter in 2019. Even after McPhee was lost for the year after suffering a torn triceps in a Week 7 bout with the bitter division rival Pittsburgh Steelers, the team turned to the rookie Ferguson.

However, even though he didn’t start a single game and was used in a rotational role on the edge, he still finished with the second-most sacks on the team behind Judon. His five sacks, 24 total tackles, and 10 quarterback hits were all career highs and he returned his first career fumble recovery 33 yards for his first career touchdown.

Ravens’ defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale is one of the most aggressive play-callers in the league and the Ravens are one of the most blitz heavy teams in the league. While they have used the blitz to supplement some of their lack of pass rush in recent years, Head Coach John Harbaugh has expressed the team in intends on using both their inside and outside linebackers on the edge as blitzers as well as sending them in with a running start from the second level, both of which Bowser can excel at.

The fact that the team didn’t use a high or any pick on a player at the position or dip into the veteran free agent pool for someone who isn’t a returnee like McPhee, not only expresses their confidence in Ferguson as a potential break out candidate. The same can be said about their confidence in Bowser taking another step and realizing the potential that they saw in him coming out of college.

Even if he doesn’t win the starting job opposite of Judon in training camp, if he shows enough to warrant a new contract and can come close to breaking the double-digit sack threshold, like Judon did in 2019 with his career-high 9.5 or as Smith and Kruger did in their final seasons with the team, Bowser could be a cost-efficient alternative for Judon who is set to hit the unrestricted free-agent market and command top dollar next offseason since the Ravens franchise tagged him this year and most likely won’t do so for a second straight year.

It seems like 8-9.5 is the sweet spot for sacks to be considered having a breakout year at the outside linebacker but since Bowser can do so many things on defense he could still log a sack total in the high single digits (7-8.5) but make up for the “just okay” numbers in that statistical category that has become the end all be all measuring how impactful a player at the position by making more plays in coverage.

For example: if he records a handful of interceptions (3-5) and racks up a bunch of pass deflections to go along with double-digit quarterback hits and show more maturation as a pass rusher with seven or more sacks, including some resulting in forced fumbles, that could be considered a breakout season for his hybrid style of outside linebacker.

Last season for the Patriots, Van Noy recorded 56 total tackles and career highs in sacks (6.5), quarterback hits (15), and forced fumbles (three) and Collins recorded 81 total tackles, logged career highs in both sacks (seven) and interceptions (three), and tied his career-best in forced fumbles (three) and quarterback hits (10).

Both players received lucrative contracts with new teams this offseason as the Patriots, who had the No.1 ranked total defense in 2019, looked to get younger on that side of the ball. They are both at or around the age of 30 with Van Noy at 29 and Collins set to turn 31 in October. Bowser on the other hand just turned 25 back in May, is still growing as a player and his best football is still in front of him. If he does break out this year and the Ravens don’t opt to resign him, he could still fetch them a high compensatory pick in the 2022 draft but their front office is always in the business of locking up their ascending young talent at a reasonable price if they can, not just letting them walk.

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