Lost in all the talk about all the players Baltimore has lost since winning the Super Bowl is one area where the Ravens believe they’re better: The defensive line, where Chris Canty and Marcus Spears have been added in free agency -- and where coach John Harbaugh is already licking his chops about what Haloti Ngata may be able to do in 2013.
Harbaugh told the Carroll County Times that the addition of Canty and Spears will make Ngata even better.
“Our bell cow in there is Haloti. He’s our best player inside, probably the best player in the in the National Football League. I know Haloti is really, really motivated to have a great year,” Harbaugh said. “Adding those guys and putting the pieces around him is a huge part of what we’re doing.”
Harbaugh said the Ravens can allow Ngata to do more now that they have better personnel around him.
“We’ve played [Ngata] everywhere pretty much, and it’s been more based on what we’ve needed to do based on the offensive line that we’re going against or our situation personnel-wise,” Harbaugh said. “But the fact that we’ve added two guys that can play defensive end definitely marks the possibility he could play inside more.”
And so in an offseason when starters Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Dannell Ellerbe, Paul Kruger, Bernard Pollard and Cary Williams have left the Ravens’ defense, Ngata may be ready to have his best season yet on a very different Ravens defense.