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Factoid

Ravens Defense

Baltimore near top in takeaways

The Ravens defense is a tricky one to rank. In the offseason they let Matt Judon depart in free agency; he's been their best pass rusher the last few seasons. Is a big decline in order?

Looking at the numbers, odds are they'll be able to withstand that departure. Pass rush hasn't really been key to what they've been doing defensively. They thrive because of takeaways. Those numbers are often aided by pass rush, but Baltimore has managed to be one of the league's very best defenses for takeaways even while being only slightly above average in sacks.

Over the last five years, Baltimore hasn't ranked in the top 10 in sacks in any of those seasons (14th, 21st, 11th, 11th, and 24th). And yet they've ranked in the top 10 in takeaways in all but one of those years, including 10th and 7th the last two years. Over that five-year period, only Kansas City and New England have more takeaways than Baltimore.

TEAM TAKEAWAYS, 2016-2020
Team1617181920Total
Kansas City3326272322131
New England2318283622127
Baltimore2834172522126
Pittsburgh2322153827125
Tampa Bay2926172825125
Seattle1925263222124
LA Rams1828302422122
Buffalo1825272326119
Minnesota2719203122119
New Orleans2125242326119
Washington2023262223114
Carolina2721222122113
Miami2515281629113
Philadelphia2631172019113
Indianapolis1720262325111
LA Chargers2827201419108
Chicago1122361918106
Green Bay2522152418104
Arizona2821161721103
Denver2717271616103
NY Giants2519211622103
Tennessee1821172323102
Dallas2021201723101
Jacksonville133317191799
Atlanta221619202198
Cleveland131331202198
San Francisco20207272094
Houston17162922993
NY Jets122020211992
Las Vegas301417151591
Detroit143214181290
Cincinnati201418161785

Baltimore used a first-rounder on Penn State pass rusher Jayson Oweh. He should help cover for the loss of Judon, and maybe provide the disruption the rest of the defense needs to continue racking up takeaways, most notably Marcus Peters (pictured). I don't think Baltimore will be a top-5 fantasy defense, but they're going to be in my top 10 again in 2021.

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index