There is no doubt that Baltimore sports fans everywhere appreciate Pro Football Hall of Famer and two-time Super Bowl champion Ray Lewis.
Lewis had a legendary career with the Ravens, playing all 17 of his seasons in Baltimore. He ended his career with 2,059 total tackles, 1,568 solo tackles, 41.5 sacks, 19 forced fumbles, 20 fumble recoveries, 31 interceptions and three touchdowns.
“Ray is Ray … arguably one of the best, if not the best, to ever play that position in the National Football League,” former Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano said on Glenn Clark Radio June 6.
In October 2022, the Chicago Bears traded linebacker Roquan Smith to the Ravens in exchange for Baltimore’s 2023 second- and fifth-round picks along with linebacker A.J. Klein. The Ravens and Smith agreed to a five-year, $100 million deal in January. Smith played nine regular-season games for Baltimore after the trade, recording 86 total tackles, 51 solo tackles, two sacks and one interception.
Pagano was the defensive coordinator for the Ravens in 2011 and for the Bears from 2019-2020, meaning he coached both Lewis and Smith. Pagano believes there are similarities between Lewis and Smith, from their intangibles to their intelligence, and believes that Smith can lead the defense the same way that Lewis once did.
As soon as Smith landed in Baltimore, he was able to elevate the tough Baltimore defense almost immediately. Pagano described Smith as a three-down linebacker.
“Roquan, you pay a guy like that because you never have to take him off the field,” Pagano said. “… The football IQ, the football character, he is so intelligent, and he understands and gets the game. He’s like another coach on the field, so when you have him out there, and he’s got the green dot on his helmet, and he’s calling defenses that Mike Macdonald is calling in. All of those things, you can’t put a price on that.”
Lewis and Smith bring similar intangibles to the table, according to Pagano.
“You trust guys that you know are in the building 24/7, they know the game plan inside and out, they know the opponent inside and out,” Pagano said. “You can give them a game plan and say, ‘Hey, what do you like? What don’t you like? What’s going to cause us some problems? What’s too much for the guys?’ And they go through it and scratch it out. … That’s the kind of thing, like Roquan, you can give him that. He can handle all that stuff.”
Smith gets an entire offseason and then a full season with the Ravens, which will benefit both sides. Smith gets to learn more about the defense and what this season will be like, while the coaching staff can create new defensive schemes with Smith in mind.
“For him to be able to tie the front and the back together from a communication standpoint, and then his skill set, it’s off the charts,” Pagano said. “He doesn’t say a whole lot. He’s a quiet guy, but don’t be fooled. That head and that big brain of his is always churning.”
For more from Pagano, listen to the full interview here:
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