Ravens new DL coach believes Travis Jones is capable of Pro Bowl breakout season

The third-year pro could be the next interior defensive lineman to take his game to an elite level after showing several promising flashes to date.

The 2023 Baltimore Ravens had several defenders on their top-ranked unit have outstanding breakout or resurgent seasons. Chief among them was 2020 third-rounder Justin Madubuike who firmly established himself as one of the best interior pass rushers in the NFL by recording a career-high 13 sacks which also led all defensive linemen in the entire league and led to him receiving a top-of-the-market contract for his position.

Even though last year was Madubuike’s best and most productive season by far, his ascension to stardom didn’t just come out of nowhere. He had flashed dominant difference-making potential in each of his first three seasons and doubled his sack production every as well but consistency and being in a more limited role prevented him putting it all together earlier.

One current young player whose career arc to this point has been similar to Madubuike’s is 2022 third-rounder Travis Jones. Heading into his third season, new Ravens defensive line coach Dennis Johnson believes he is capable of breaking out and becoming a household name in the same major way.

“From what I’ve seen, from ‘Trav’, he is a special human first – a special man – and then a special football player,” Johnson said Tuesday in press conference. “[He’s] talented, and he wants it just as a bad as anybody you’d be around. You want to talk about attention to detail, that’s how he approaches every day. Whether it’s football school or it’s been OTAs, in the meetings; I think he should be [able to have success]. He has to continue to work – which I know he will – but he’ll be in that type of position to have a successful season.”

While Jones didn’t double his sack total from his rookie year in 2023, he was still able to find more consistency and increased his impact and production as a pass rusher. He appeared in all 17 games and finished with 1.5 sacks and five quarterback hits after logging just a single sack and two quarterback hits as a rookie. Jones was also a force against the run, recording a career-high 36 total tackles including four for a loss and batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage.

Jones also improved his overall Pro Football Focus grade from 62.5 in year one to 70.6 in year two. After being an unblockable menace through the first couple of games of the preseason last year, a hyperextended knee delayed his rookie debut by two games and it was still affecting his play to a degree even after he was cleared to return to the field.

In 2023, he was part of a heavy two-man rotation at nose tackle with veteran Michael Pierce who quietly had one of the best seasons of his career but that didn’t stop Jones from having his snaps increase by more than 100— 453 from 324. His displays of strength and power were incredibly dominant at times, all it took was one hand to send an opposing offensive lineman tumbling to the turf on his way to the quarterback, seemingly unimpeded.

One of the primary objectives of a nose tackle is to occupy multiple blockers in both the run and pass game to allow his teammates lined up next to or behind him favorable matchups or to come unblocked entirely on twists, stunts and blitzes. Although Jones wasn’t always the beneficiary of his herculean feats of strength on the gridiron last season, he played a role in setting up others for success on a defense that led the league with 60 sacks.

Labeling Jones as just a nose tackle would be doing his positional versatility to play three-technique a disservice. Expect to see his snap count continue to increase in 2024 and beyond with him seeing more snaps in a heavier rotation with both Pierce and Madubuike at defensive tackle as well as line up next to him when the 2023 Pro Bowler and Second Team All Pro selection rushes from the edge as he did at times last season.

With so much continuity on the depth chart after the Ravens were able to bring back every defensive lineman from last year’s group, Jones could be primed to not only have another strong season but also to make Johnson’s lofty projection come to fruition.