Ravens rule out former second-round pick for season

The Ravens must be on cloud nine heading into their Week 13 bye as they sit atop the AFC with a 9-3 record. However, they received some bad news about one of their promising defenders.

Head coach John Harbaugh told reporters that LB David Ojabo, Baltimore's second-round pick in 2022, had surgery last week to repair a partially torn ACL and the hope is that he'll be ready by training camp at the latest.

"He had to make a decision about it, in terms of whether to risk it or not," Harbaugh said. "Every medical expert said to get it fixed. He wanted to play. Even I told him, "Man, you gotta get that right for the rest of your career," because it's a clean type of a surgery and he'll be rolling again."

It's quite a loss for the Ravens defense as Ojabo has shown promise in his limited action, posting two sacks and two forced fumbles in five games played. But injuries have quickly become a major concern for the Michigan product.

Ojabo was placed on injured reserve last season after suffering an Achilles injury in March, following his impressive final collegiate season with 36 tackles, 11 sacks and five forced fumbles.

Luckily for Baltimore, its defense has been playing lights out even while seeing some of its players get injured. Through the first 12 weeks of the season, it is allowing the second-least total yards per game (273.9) and points per game (15.6) in the league.

The early-season signings of linebackers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy have certainly paid dividends as well. Both players are on pace to have career years, which is even more impressive as each player is in his 10th year in the NFL.

Clowney and Van Noy have the second (7.5) and third (six) most sacks on the team this season. With veterans like them stepping up in others' absences, the Ravens haven't missed a beat and still have strong hopes for a Super Bowl run.