With the Baltimore Ravens pulling their offer from free-agent defensive tackle Michael Brockers, it puts the team in an odd spot. All the top free agents have already signed, including their own in Michael Pierce, leaving the Ravens with a huge hole in the center of their defensive line. Baltimore will now have to take a look at a picked over free-agent market to hopefully find a replacement.
The Ravens still have some options and don’t necessarily have to rush to make any moves. They could look to the 2020 NFL Draft or even the second wave of free agency following the draft when aging players get cut. But with no guarantees in either situation, Baltimore could look at these five defensive tackles as options right now.
Shelby Harris
Harris doesn’t have the same size as Brockers, falling three inches and 15 pounds lighter. But Harris can play all over the defensive line and was productive last year for the Denver Broncos.
Over the last three years, Harris has started 22 of the 48 games he’s played in, notching an interception, forced fumble, 14 sacks, 22 quarterback hits and 122 combined tackles. According to Pro Football Focus, he earned a 76.8 overall grade last season, which ranked 17th among defensive linemen.
Harris has been a little hot and cold throughout his career. The question for the Ravens is if they feel he can remain more consistent with Baltimore and handle a sizeable workload as more of a space-eating defensive tackle.
Damon Harrison
Harrison is a beast of a man at 6-foot-3 and 350 pounds. While “Snacks” is towards the end of his career after eight years in the league, he’s an experienced option that would likely be available for an affordable one-year deal.
Harrison is a run-stuffer through and through thanks to his size but he doesn’t provide much in the way of harassing the quarterback. He’s accounted for just 11 quarterback pressures over the last two seasons and just two sacks last season. Overall, Harrison isn’t quite the player he used to be but for a team like the Ravens who need someone to help stuff the run inside, he’s one of the best remaining options.
Domata Peko
The Ravens have been bringing back a bunch of their own players this offseason, so why not another?
Peko played seven games with Baltimore last season, starting three. While Peko offers no upside as a pass rusher — posting no sacks, quarterback hits or pressures last year — he comes with plenty of experience as a run-stuffing option in the middle of the defensive line.
It’s not an ideal situation and the Ravens clearly wanted to upgrade their defensive line but re-signing Peko would give them a good baseline that they can hopefully improve upon in the 2020 NFL Draft or later in free agency when other options get cut.
Timmy Jernigan
Jernigan started his career with Baltimore before they traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles after three seasons. Though he never put up the same level of production he had with the Ravens, Jernigan did enough to earn a large contract from the Eagles. However, injuries followed him to Philadelphia where he played only 28 of 48 possible games.
When healthy, Jernigan is the player Baltimore has been looking for this entire time. He’s big enough to eat space in the middle of a defensive line and he’s got both power and speed to get into the backfield as a pass-rushing option. In three seasons with the Ravens, Jernigan accounted for 35 quarterback hits and 13 sacks.
The problem here is that after six seasons, Jernigan hasn’t shown he can remain healthy for an entire season. If Baltimore were to be interested, they’d likely still have to find some more help at defensive tackle just as an insurance policy for Jernigan’s health.
Marcell Dareus
Dareus is another experienced option towards the end of his career that the Ravens could be interested in. He just turned 30 years old and after nine years in the NFL, Dareus isn’t quite the same player he was in his prime. However, this would be a reunion for Calais Campbell after playing with Dareus for the last two and a half years in Jacksonville. That familiarity could help strengthen Baltimore’s interest.
Dareus might want to forget his time playing for the Jaguars though. He played in 30 games, starting 22 and accounted for just 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble and 45 combined tackles. Where Dareus was at his best was with the Buffalo Bills. In his six and a half seasons in Buffalo, Dareus accounted for 13 passes defensed, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, 35 sacks, 56 quarterback hits and 292 combined tackles.
However, with Dareus going on injured reserve last season with a nasty core injury, the Ravens would want to be diligent in getting him checked out before agreeing to terms.
