The Baltimore Ravens had plenty of time from when defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike was placed on injured reserve with a season ending neck injury on September 27 until the NFL trade deadline on November 4 to find his replacement.
They chose, instead, to do nothing.
Bleacher Report called out the Ravens for not making a move to land an interior defensive lineman ahead of the deadline and with one of the NFL’s worst defenses through the first half of the season.
From Bleacher Report: “The Ravens took a significant loss when they placed two-time Pro Bowler Nnamdi Madubuike on injured reserve. Baltimore fields the 21st-ranked run defense, giving up 4.5 yards per carry, which ranks 22nd across the league. Without Madubuike, the Ravens don’t have enough beef up front to slow down physical ground attacks, which may become a problem as temperatures drop in cold-weather November and December games. They needed an addition on the interior of the defensive line.”
The Ravens have bounced back to win 2 consecutive games and are now 3-5 and very much in the hunt for the AFC North Division title headed into a Week 10 road game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Ravens Defense Needs Help Up Front
While we can make an argument the Ravens have elite players at the second and third levels on defense with NFL All-Pro inside linebacker Roquan Smith and NFL All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton, what they don’t have without Madubuike is that kind of skill level up front.
The Ravens did try and make an improvement at edge rusher by trading for Tennessee Titans veteran Dre’Mont Jones, no such quarter was given to the interior defensive line, where Baltimore now puts its faith in nose tackle John Jenkins along with defensive ends Brent Urban and Travis Jones. It’s not a group that exactly inspires a lot of faith.
Madubuike One of NFL’s Elite Defenders
In defense of the Ravens defense, it was going to be downright impossible to replace Madubuike, an NFL All-Pro and 2-time Pro Bowler who may or may not be able to return in 2026 due to the severity of his injury.
After Madubuike was placed on injured reserve, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh declined to answer a question about whether his injury might cost him more than just the rest of this season or could even be career ending.
“I’m trying to explain it in the best way I can in terms of what I’m allowed to tell you,” Harbaugh told a group of reporters. “A lot of that are things he needs to address with you guys, on his time. Those are questions best addressed by him going forward.”
Madubuike, 6-foot-3 and 305 pounds, is also one of the NFL’s highest paid players at his position after he signed a 4-year, $98 million contract extension in March 2024.
“It has been a huge loss for a struggling Ravens defense that ranks last in the NFL for the first time since Week 16 of 2021,” ESPN’s Jamison Hensley wrote on September 24, before Madubuike was placed on IR. “The 27-year-old Madubuike, the Ravens best defensive lineman who has made the Pro Bowl the past two seasons, has 21.5 sacks since the start of the 2023 season — the most by any defensive tackle in the league.”
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