Calais Campbell is back in Baltimore, and the Ravens may need more of him right away than the idea of a pitch count suggests.
The 40-year-old defensive tackle was a model of steady usage in Arizona last season, playing all 17 games at age 39 and never dipping below 20 defensive reps in a game. He never topped 37, either, which fits the kind of workload Baltimore and defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver have in mind now. The target is around 400 snaps, but the path to that number could look a lot different depending on how Sunday plays out.
That matters because the Ravens are likely to open the season without All Pro defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, and possibly for a few weeks after that. Baltimore has bodies that can hold up against the run, but not many interior linemen who can push the pocket. Campbell, who logged 33 defensive snaps in last year’s opener and reached 37 at his season high, fits the exact need.
Sunday’s matchup in Indianapolis only sharpens that picture. Rookie head coach Jesse Minter is making his first NFL sideline appearance, and he’s doing it against an offense that hung 400 yards and 38 points on his Chargers defense last October. Without Madubuike, Baltimore’s front is short on impact inside, and there’s a good chance Minter spent the weekend thinking about fronts that keep both Travis Jones and Campbell on the field often.
The pitch count is real, but the Ravens may not have the luxury of easing Campbell in for long. If the game demands it, he could be out there for 40-plus snaps.
“I work really hard,” Campbell said last month. “I feel really good about where I am at.
Practices have been going well … I really like where I am at right now. The coaches did a really good job of letting me kind of ease in and really kind of get myself where I need to be.
But, I feel really good [about] where I am at. September cannot come soon enough."
Campbell also played 144 special teams snaps last season, averaging just under nine per game, but that number figures to shrink in Baltimore. With his value likely magnified while Madubuike is out, the Ravens have little reason to expose him too much on special teams beyond the field-goal block unit.
If Campbell gets through the full season and lands around 400 defensive snaps, that works out to 23.5 per game. That’s a modest total on paper, but the Ravens know what he can do in a bigger slice of the workload, especially after what he did against the Colts a year ago while playing for a bad Cardinals defense.
“I told Coach Weave, I’m training to be able to play 40 plays again and give you a quality 40,” Campbell said this offseason. “And he said, ‘You give me 30 and I’ll be happy.”
Against Indianapolis last season, Campbell produced his best pressure game of the year, posting five pressures and a 26.5% pressure rate. He added three QB hits, two hurries, and gave Daniel Jones plenty of trouble.
The Colts will likely try to lean on Jonathan Taylor and turn the game into a power-running contest, forcing Minter out of light boxes and zone looks. Baltimore will need help from run defenders like Broderick Washington and John Jenkins, but Campbell is not expected to be a bystander for long.
Weaver and Campbell have been planning for this moment for a while, and the Ravens’ need on the interior only makes the case stronger. With Madubuike still working back from a major procedure, Baltimore may have to lean on Campbell’s leadership and production immediately as it tries to build a new identity after two rough seasons.
“He is - I've said it countless times - a force multiplier,” Waver said of Campbell this spring. “He's one of those guys that doesn't just make our defensive line better; he makes our defense better.
He makes our team better. And anytime you can inject that type of energy and leadership into a locker room, that's a win.
All of that could be in heavy supply Sunday, when Campbell is back in a Ravens uniform for the first time since 2022.
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