Terrell Suggs, linebacker, Baltimore Ravens
Much like Gore, we have been waiting for Suggs to hit that wall. Even after coming off an Achilles injury he suffered the previous season, the then 33-year-old Suggs was able to rack up eight sacks for Baltimore in 2016. It was the 10th time in his 14-year NFL career that the future Hall of Famer recorded eight-plus sacks in a season.
Suggs put up his lowest number of total tackles, solo tackles and quarterback pressures in a full season since all the way back in 2003 when he was a wide-eyed rookie. Now a proven veteran with a ton of tread on his tires, this Arizona State product will soon become nothing more than a situational pass rusher.
It’s not necessarily a sad ending to an otherwise brilliant career. We’ve seen the likes of Robert Mathis, John Abraham and Julius Peppers thrive in these situations in the past. There’s no reason to believe Suggs won’t.
However, there surely are indicators that Suggs might be a bit different. Unlike those other top-end pass rushers, he’s been an every-down player throughout the vast majority of his career. Both Mathis and Abraham took on part-time roles around the age Suggs is right now. For Peppers, that role became a paramount theme of his career back in 2011.
None of these players had 14 years in the NFL under their belt when they made that transition. It’s not going to be an easy move for Suggs. And while it might be mitigated to an extent due to last year’s role in Baltimore, there has to be some concern here.
Also important to note, the Ravens have remained viable as an NFL contender because they simply don’t hang on to veterans as key pieces for too long.
Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, the two-best players in franchise history, saw their roles diminish as their careers with the Ravens came to a conclusion. Expect that to happen to Suggs in 2017. This is only magnified for Suggs, who has suffered an Achilles injury an torn biceps in consecutive seasons.