Ravens place OLB Malik Hamm on injured reserve; sign another local product

The former undrafted free agent will have to wait another year to make his NFL regular season debut.

The Baltimore Ravens will be without second-year outside linebacker Malik Hamm for the 2024 season after placing him on injured reserve Tuesday. Following a standout preseason and training camp, he made the initial 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie last year out of Lafayette, he spent his entire rookie season on the list after suffering an ankle injury late in the 2023 preseason. This time around it is a knee injury that will cause his NFL regular season debut to be delayed by another year.

Hamm is a Baltimore native who many pundits and coaches have been raving about since the offseason program. He is noticeably bigger physically, stood out on the field during practices and appeared poised to have a role in the Ravens rotation on the edge this upcoming season.

To take his place on the 90-man roster and outside linebacker depth chart, the Ravens have signed another local product, Quincy Roche. The fourth-year pro played at the prep level not too far from where he will be practicing now with New Town High School in Owings Mills, Maryland only about a 30-minute drive from the Ravens’ practice facility at the Under Armour Performance Center.

Roche finds himself back in the AFC North after originally coming into the league as a sixth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2021 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami. He didn’t make the team but was claimed off waivers by the New York Giants where he appeared in 17 games and made three starts between the 2021 and 2022 seasons. In those appearances, he recorded 40 total tackles including five for a loss, 2.5 sacks, five quarterback hits and a forced fumble.

Roche spent the 2023 season on the Minnesota Vikings practice squad before becoming a free agent this offseason.

Hamm was one of several young edge defenders competing for snaps behind fourth-year pro Odafe Oweh and veteran Kyle Van Noy who is coming off a season in which he logged a a career-high nine sacks in just 14 games. Third-year pro David Ojabo continues to trend in a positive direction heading into a pivotal season after having his 2023 campaign cut short by a partially torn ACL. Second-year pro Tavius Robinson was a very solid early-down edge setter against the run as a rookie, played in every game and has also undergone an impressive physical transformation this offseason.

The Ravens also have third-round rookie Adisa Isaac who was placed on the non-football injury list before training camp and has yet to practice since rookie minicamp and undrafted rookie Joe Evans who is competing for a roster spot and being cross-trained as a fullback/tight end hybrid.