Mike Green led all of college football with 17 sacks in 2024. To build on their defensive identity, the Baltimore Ravens’ then-head coach John Harbaugh drafted him in the second round. But the young linebacker couldn’t have disappointed more. He went the first seven weeks without a single sack – his first came in Week 8 against Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears. But if he were to answer, it wasn’t his production but how the team was managed.

“I just feel like the philosophy that was being coached to us last year probably wasn’t the best for us,” Green said on The Lounge Podcast. “And I think that you kind of have to shape around your pass rushers and what they’re good at. And when we get in certain situations where we can’t really attack the quarterback or can’t really get into certain calls, that takes a lot away from your pass rushing ability.”

After the departure of Mike Macdonald, who left for the Seattle Seahawks, John Harbaugh promoted Zach Orr as the defensive coordinator of the Ravens. Orr had played for Harbaugh from 2014 to 2016, and he signed up as a defensive analyst under him initially. After a three-year stint with the Ravens, Orr joined the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021, but only lasted a year there. He rejoined the Ravens as a linebackers coach and was promoted to the defensive coordinator in 2024. When Harbaugh made Orr his defensive coordinator, he called Orr a “homegrown Raven in every way,” and the confidence was built in.

“He knows our players and understands our standard as well as anyone,” Harbaugh had said at the time. “I’m confident that he is prepared to take on the challenge of continuing to develop our players and scheme as our next defensive coordinator.”

Orr’s first season as DC looked nothing like what followed, though.

In 2024, Baltimore finished second in the NFL in sacks with 54, and their rush defense was best in the league. However, it flipped in 2025, as they were more conservative. This resulted in them finishing 30th in pass defense and 18th against scoring. Only two teams had fewer sacks than Baltimore’s 30.0. Even their rookie, Mike Green, was struggling.

In Week 4 against the Kansas City Chiefs, he managed 5 tackles, but no sacks. Week 5 against the Houston Texans: 2 tackles, no sacks in 44-10 blowout. By Week 9, Baltimore’s pass rush was so broken that the Ravens traded for Dre’Mont Jones at the deadline just to find some consistency.

He finished the season with just 2.5 sacks and 17 tackles in nine games for them, a steep decline from his performance in college. After the season, John Harbaugh walked away from the Ravens, and Zach Orr was let go.

New defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver sat down with Green this offseason and went through the 2025 film snap-by-snap to show him exactly what was being left on the table on every play. It’s something the coach believes will help Green in 2026.

“It’s not an ability thing,” Weaver said of Green. “He is milliseconds away from having double-digit sacks, and we are going to do everything we can to try to make that happen this year.”

Weaver essentially confirmed what Green already knew: that he was close, every single time, but he kept running into a wall built by the previous staff. But the new staff, and what they’re doing with the team this offseason, has already left its mark on Green.