Ravens Host Former All Pro LB For Visit

Without Smith in the lineup, the most experienced off-ball linebacker left standing in the Ravens roster is 2023 third-rounder Trenton Simpson. While the third-year pro has 14 career starts under his belt, he has been benched and regulated to a primarily special teams and in case of injury role in each of the las two seasons after opening each at the starting WILL spot following the departure of 2023 Pro Bowler Patrick Queen in free agency.

The Ravens had been starting fourth-round rookie Teddye Buchanan on the weakside in each of the past three games and moved him over to MIKE after Smith went down with his injury in the their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4. Simpson was back in the lineup but the inexperienced tandem performed so poorly that the coaches resorted to deploying a veteran special teams ace Jake Hummel for 28 defensive snaps, the second-most in his career for a single game.

At 33 years old, Kendricks isn't the same explosive athlete he once was in his physical prime but what he lacks in athleticism, he can make up with by leaning on his experience and instincts to quickly read and diagnose plays that younger players at the position aren't as adept to doing at a high level.

Last season, he was with the Dallas Cowboys where started all15 games he appeared in and finished with a team-leading 138 total tackles, including 4 for a loss, 3 sacks, 3 quarterback, 3 forced fumbles, 3 pass breakups, 2 interceptions and one fumble recovery. He recorded a dozen tackles against the Ravens in a Week 3 matchup that went down the wire and ended in a 28-25 Cowboys loss.

In the Chiefs game before and after Smith left, the Ravens young linebacker looked lost and were out of position far too often and Patrick Mahomes took full advantage of those lapses. He got the ball out his hands quick to wide open running backs in the flat and pass catchers who got between them and the safety because they didn't get deep enough in their drop and left a window open to exploit.

One of Kendricks' best traits as a player in addition to be a tackling machine, who has logged 100-plus in nine straight years, is his ability to make plays in coverage, a skill the Ravens have sorely missed and lacked consistency in at the second and third levels of their defense this season. He has 11 career interceptions and had logged 3 or more pass breakups in every year of his career except his rookie season.

Given his wealth of knowledge and experience, having started 142 or his 147 career games, Kendricks likely wouldn't take long to get up to speed with the scheme in time to contribute right away if signed. All Pro safety Kyle Hamilton would still keep wearing the green dot and relaying the defensive play calls but he'd bring stability to the position in Smith absence and not make it the glaring liability it would be otherwise.

When the Ravens defense got off to a rough start in the 2019 season with their young athletic linebackers struggling, they brought in journeyman veteran Josh Bynes for a second tour with the team after he was on the 2012 Super Bowl winning team as a former undrafted free agent. He and fellow veteran L.J. Fort were signed off the street and became stabilizing forces in the middle of one of what wound up being one of the best defenses in the league that year. Kendricks could go from a placeholder for Smith to a saving grace for the Ravens next to him when he gets back.