Ravens Sign Auburn DT

After losing veteran nose tackle Michael Pierce to retirement this offseason and with veteran defensive end Brent Urban still an unrestricted free agent, the Ravens entered the 2025 NFL Draft in need of reinforcements in the interior of their defensive trenches. Despite all but vowing to make addressing the position during the annual three-day event a priority, they didn't take one until the sixth round where they selected Virginia Tech's Aeneas Peebles.

While the former Hokie will definitely add more juice to their pass rush, at barely over 6 feet tall and sub 300 pounds, he won't be nearly as big of a factor against the run. Pierce entered the league and made the team as an undrafted free agent back in 2016 out of Samford. Jones could follow a similar path to prominence as he is much more in the mold of a space-eating zero or one-technique at 6'5" and just shy of 330 pounds.

After beginning his collegiate career in the Pac-12 at Oregon as a freshman, Jones played the next three seasons in the SEC with the Tiger and totaled 84 total tackles including four for a loss, 1.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and a batted pass.

On tape he plays with violent hands and a lot of power at the point of attack and with his sheer girth, he'll be tough to move even when double-teams as long as he maintains a good pad level which can be difficult at times for players of his height who don't naturally have as much leverage as those at the position who are shorter and more compactly built like Pierce.

The Ravens still have 2022 third-rounder Travis Jones returning who is fully capable of playing nose tackle but he is heading into the final year of his contract and will need to be spelled to preserved for passing downs.

During his post-draft press conference general manager Eric DeCosta shared that there were a few prospects they wanted to target in the later rounds who got snipped before they were on the clock again. However, he seems confident that they'll be able to address the need by other means.

"I think we do have some options with street free agents and different things that we'll have an opportunity to address that in some way," DeCosta said.

While penetrating interior pass-rushing defensive tackles are much harder to come by, the Ravens have a strong history of signing veteran free agents to serve in a rotational role as a run-stuffing presence whether its prior to or during the regular season. Some recent examples include Justin Ellis (2019), Domata Peko (2019) and Josh Tupou (2024).