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Ahead of this Thursday’s NFL draft, the Ravens have made yet another move in free agency.
This time, it’s the signing of LB Jake Ryan, who they’ve reportedly agreed to a one-year contract with.
The #Ravens have agreed to a one-year with LB Jake Ryan, pending a physical, source said. A #Jaguars LB last year, Ryan was a consistent starter with the #Packers before that. Some depth before the draft.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 18, 2020
Ryan, 28, is coming off a brief stint with the Jaguars after playing three full seasons in Green Bay from 2015-17. He suffered a torn ACL in the summer of 2018, which sidelined him for the entirety of that season and 12 games into the 2019 campaign.
He signed with the Jaguars this past season and after being activated off of injured reserve, Ryan appeared in just two games before suffering a season-ending hamstring injury.
In his first three career seasons with the Packers, though, Ryan was relatively healthy and productive. He started a total of 27 games from 2015-17, posting back-to-back campaigns with 80+ tackles in the latter of the two years.
For his career, Ryan has 213 combined tackles to his name, as well as 15 TFL and eight quarterback hits.
The timing of this move is interesting, as the Ravens have been heavily linked to linebacker prospects in the draft - particularly LSU’s Patrick Queen and Oklahoma’s Kenneth Murray. It’d be surprising if GM Eric DeCosta didn’t address the position in some fashion during the draft, but it’s possible that this move hints that the Ravens aren’t leaning towards using their first-round pick on a linebacker.
Given his recent injury history, the acquisition of Ryan is likely more of a depth move than anything, but he’ll at least add some established talent and pedigree to a linebacker group that currently features only L.J. Fort, Chris Board and Otara Alaka.
What are your thoughts on this signing? Share them below and join in on the conversation!