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After watching long-time nose tackle Michael Pierce ride off into retirement, the Baltimore Ravens have added some much-needed depth at the nose tackle position in the form of John Jenkins, the veteran tackle who most recently played for the Las Vegas Raiders.
That's right, after avoiding the center of the defensive line for most of the offseason, adding just Aeneas Peebles to the trenches as a 3-4 defensive end, Baltimore has strengthened the position behind ascending run stuffer Travis Jones, adding a player with extensive experience at the NFL level.
Originally drafted in the third round by the New Orleans Saints all the way back in 2013, Jenkins is one of the more tenured defensive tackles in the NFL, having appeared in 150 regular-season games with 64 starts plus five more appearances in the playoffs. Despite his age, Jenkins has actually logged the most snaps of his career in each of the past two seasons, topping 600 snaps for the first time last season for the Raiders while falling just six snaps short the year prior for Antonio Pierce's squad.
In 2025, Jenkins almost certainly won't start for the Ravens, and at this point, may not even be a lock to make the team, but there is a clear role for him on the team, competing with CJ Okoye and Jayson Jones for a depth spot on Zach Orr's defense. Still, considering Pierce only appeared in 11 games with one start last season, and was outperformed in the regular season, 231 snaps to 600, it's clear Jones is ready to take on the starting role moving forward, with a part-time run-stuffer needed to pick up the slack when he's unavailable.
Normally, adding a 35-year-old defensive tackle in the month of May isn't a major news story for NFL teams, as those players often struggle to make the roster, but Jenkins is the rare addition who might actually stick around in 2025, as he's playing some of the best ball of his career and could fit into the Ravens' desired role like a glove.
