The Ravens have a new defensive coordinator this year in Don Martindale, but the change from Dean Pees did not mean a break from continuity on that side of the ball.
Martindale was hired as the team’s linebackers coach in 2012, which was the same year that Pees took over as coordinator and the two men worked together on some effective units in Baltimore over the years. The team is also bringing back almost all of the major contributors from last year’s unit, which ranked sixth in points allowed, so some might expect little to change in 2018.
According to linebacker Terrell Suggs, though, continuity doesn’t mean the team will be doing things the same way.
“These young, hungry bulls [can] kind of get back to the way we used to do things and taking the shackles off of us, so to say. ... Sometimes a player can be shackled by the rules that come with the defense, but I think Wink is just going to allow us to go make plays,” Suggs said, via the Baltimore Sun.
Regardless of approach or coordinator, defense has rarely been the problem in Baltimore over the course of John Harbaugh’s tenure as head coach and the presence of the players that had success in the past is reason to think that can remain the case with Martindale.