Ravens Sack Leader Still Feels Underrated

"I can still play at a high level," Van Noy said. "I really think I'm one of the best in the league. My stats show it the last two years. I'm Top 10 in a lot of stuff. I still go under the radar, which is fine. I've just got to keep waking people up, and I'm grateful to do it with people that feel the same way, that have the same mindset."

Despite being a highly productive pass rusher in college at BYU, where he racked up 25 sacks as a Cougar, which led to him getting selected in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, Van Noy never got to exclusively focus on honing that craft throughout his career until he landed in Baltimore. In his previous stops with the first four teams he played for, he was deployed in a versatile role where he split his time playing on the edge and off the ball at inside linebacker.

When the Ravens signed Van Noy in the first month of the 2023 season, it was made clear to him that they would let him focus on being a pass rusher almost exclusively for the first time in his career, and he recorded a then-career-high nine sacks in just 14 games.

At 34 years old, Van Noy is the second-oldest player on the team behind only veteran nose tackle John Jenkins, who is 36. Even though he is firmly in what many would view as the twilight of a player's career, his body feels great, and retirement is nowhere near the forefront of his mind. He is one of several starters and key players entering a contract year and has a strong case for being one of the best bargains in the league, given his proven pass rush prowess with a 2025 cap hit of just $6.1 million.

"I just like to continue to prove the people in my circle right, that have believed in me, as well as myself," Van Noy said. "I've always been very underrated, valuable, and so I wanted to bring that and continue to do that here.