In what has been a trend for Baltimore Ravens players, defensive tackle Haloti Ngata and linebacker Terrell Suggs dropped this year in ESPN's defensive player rankings.
Ngata plummeted 13 spots, going from No. 9 last year to No. 22 this year. The fall is warranted for Ngata, who is no longer the top interior defensive lineman in the NFL.
He failed to crack 60 tackles in back-to-back seasons, the first time that's happened in his career. His 1.5 sacks last season were his fewest since 2009.
Ngata could have a good rebound season because he's healthy and he's back playing defensive tackle (after a year of playing nose tackle).
Suggs slipped in the rankings, but not as much as Ngata. Suggs tumbled five spots, falling from No. 23 last year to No. 28 this year.
Last season, Suggs looked like the best player in the league for the first two months, making 60 tackles and nine sacks in his first eight games. He just couldn't sustain that dominance and finished with 20 tackles and one sack in the last eight games.
On the rankings so far, eight Ravens players have made the list: Ngata, Suggs, Elvis Dumervil, Torrey Smith, Lardarius Webb, Marshal Yanda, Joe Flacco and Steve Smith. All but one -- Yanda -- dropped in the rankings from the previous year.
