As we get set for training camp, we’re exploring five questions surrounding the team.
Up next, how does the defense shape up with new Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr?
How much will the defense change?
Every coordinator puts his own stamp on a system, and Orr will bring fresh ideas. However, don’t expect drastic changes.
Orr is a former Ravens All-Pro linebacker who spent six of the last seven years on Baltimore’s coaching staff. He’s about as Raven as a Raven can be.
Orr was part of the brain trust when Head Coach John Harbaugh decided to rebuild the defensive schemes in 2018. The Ravens believe in their system and have enjoyed success with both Wink Martindale and Mike Macdonald as coordinators.
Now that Macdonald is head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Orr takes the reigns and will spend training camp tweaking and adding to the system. However, the Ravens won’t tear it down, not after becoming the first defense in 2023 to lead the league in points allowed (16.5), sacks (60) and takeaways (31).
“We’ve been building this system for a long, long time – since 2018 – and the people that were here that are at other places, they’ll tell you, ‘The gameplan is going to change week to week, so based off what you do is basically how we’re going to play you,” Orr said. “We’re just going to do what we do and play how we play.”
How will Orr adjust to calling plays against the league’s best quarterbacks and play callers?
Orr has never called plays in his coaching career, but he’s stoked for the opportunity. He’s spent years watching film and practicing what it would be like to call plays.
He’s been studying quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow for years, looking for tendencies and charting what coverages and formations give them the most problems. Orr has seen experienced play callers like Kansas City Head Coach Andy Reid, who the Ravens will face in Week 1, keep defenses off balance with deception, execution, and sometimes trickery.
Nick Rallis of the Arizona Cardinals (29 years old) is the only defensive coordinator younger than Orr, 32, but Orr has always embraced new challenges. Training camp and preseason games will give Orr more reps to prepare for his role as a rookie play caller.
“I’ve seen it done, I’ve been a part of it, and what makes me confident is my preparation that I’m going to put in,” Orr said. “I’m going to prepare my butt off, and that’s where your confidence comes in with anything you do. When you’re not confident that you can do a job, that means you haven’t prepared. If you prepare the right way, like you’re supposed to prepare, you’re going to be confident. And I plan on preparing the right way.”
Orr already knows he’ll be less animated as a defensive coordinator than he was as inside linebackers coach. The responsibility of calling plays will keep him focused on his next move.
“I’ve got to calm myself down a little bit,” Orr said. “I can’t celebrate too hard. Now, everyone is looking at me like, ‘What’s the call? What’s the call?’ So, I’ve got to keep it mild-toned. I’m definitely going to express my excitement when the time is right, but I definitely have to be aware of that. Things get moving quick, and you have to be planning ahead.”
Could Orr give Kyle Hamilton even more freedom to roam?
Orr has called the third-year safety “the ultimate chess piece” because of Hamilton’s ability to play centerfield, blitz, defend the slot, cover one-on-one, and defend the run. Hamilton became an All-Pro in just his second season and if anything, it sounds like Orr has been thinking of even more ways to deploy the NFL’s most versatile defender.
“My goal for him is to one day win the defensive MVP of the league,” Orr said. “I think he has that type of talent, he has that type of work ethic, he’s that type of person.
“Depending on what the offense does, he can play anywhere. He can play safety, deep safety, box safety; he can play corner, he can play nickel, he can play backer, he can even play outside linebacker, too, and you guys know he can rush the passer. The thing that you appreciate about Kyle Hamilton is, is he works at it, he’s a smart player, so he can handle all the different volume that you get him. I think he’s eager, going into his third year, to do more, so we’ll see.”
Hamilton and Orr had several sideline conversations during OTAs, a scene that will surely be repeated during training camp. Putting their minds together, Orr and Hamilton want to figure out even more ways to keep opponents guessing.