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The Baltimore Ravens don’t have to replace Jadeveon Clowney with an Eric DeCosta special late in free agency, not when they can simply take Laiatu Latu with the 30th pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

 

Latu is one of the stronger options for the Ravens late in the first round, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. He described the UCLA “pure pass rusher” as “widely considered the best in this draft class.”

 

That’s a bold statement, but Latu boasts the numbers to merit the praise. As Zrebiec pointed out, the 23-year-old posted “23 1/2 sacks and 34 tackles for loss over his final two college seasons. He also had an FBS-best 24.6 percent pass-rush win rate in his final season

Statistics like those are what the Ravens need to supplement a potentially dominant front seven. There’s strength up front, thanks to breakout defensive tackle Justin Madubuike, but the Ravens need an elite payer on the edges.

Zrebiec believes Latu would “check a ton of boxes for the Ravens,” because the “6-foot-4, 261-pound outside linebacker has a strong understanding of pass-rush moves and fundamentals and plays with outstanding effort.”

 

Adding Latu to a young rotation headlined by Odafe Oweh and David Ojabo would not only replace Clowney, who signed a two-year deal with the Carolina Panthers. It would also mean general manager DeCosta could forego adding another 30-something veteran late in free agency as a short-term fix

Laiatu Latu Can Be Dominant Edge Ravens Lack

Neither Ojabo nor Oweh have emerged as the dominant force the Ravens need on the edge. Oweh has shown signs of improvement, particularly last season, when the 2021 first-rounder recorded five sacks and 15 pressures.

 

It’s been a different story for Ojabo, who has struggled to simply get onto the field. Tearing his Achilles at his pro day before the 2023 draft didn’t help, but the second-round pick also lost most of his second season to a torn ACL.

 

What the Ravens need is a young, durable and consistent pass-rusher. Latu could handle the role, based on how he thrived for the Bruins