That’s big Terrence (“Mount”) Cody cooling off after a late-summer football practice during his final year at Alabama… Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome is on record as predicting 2011 will be the year Cody, the 6-3, 349 lb. DT, breaks out into a major starring role…
Mike Duffy has a great piece over at BaltimoreRavens.com about the progress Terrence Cody has made, both on the field and in his personal conditioning, since the big guy was drafted by the Ravens as the 57th overall pick in the 2010 Draft.
You remember Big “Mount” Cody, I’m sure, as the guy at the 2010 Scouting Combine a year ago who, well, let’s just say he was struggling with a little “weight” problem, and, uh…can you say “manssiere” ?— and we’ll leave it at that…
The Ravens and Ozzie Newsome saw greatness in Cody…and according to Oz, their vision is achieving fruition.
When asked to pinpoint a young player poised to take a big next step, the University of Alabama legend was quick to name a player from his alma mater.
“I’m going to take the Alabama guy, I’m going to go with Cody,” Newsome said Wednesday night on a conference call with Ravens season-ticket holders. “Cody’s going to have a great year this year.
“So if someone is going to step up – he also appreciates playing next to Haloti Ngata – so I would say Terrence Cody.”
As Mike Duffy reminds us in his piece, The 349-pound Cody played in 13 games last season…
Sidelined for the Ravens’ first three games because of a knee injury, Cody eventually made his way onto the field and became a solid run stuffer for Baltimore. He played approximately 150 snaps as a rookie.
With more and more time as the year progressed, it was evident that Cody was getting more comfortable.
The 349-pound nose tackle had a huge play in the playoffs in K.C. when he chased down speedy Chiefs’ running back Jamaal Charles from behind— and stripped him of the ball while belly-flopping on the startled Charles…
The Chiefs were leading, 7-3, at the time and Charles had carried the ball seven times for 87 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown. Charles rushed just two times in the second half for a combined -5 yards following Cody’s hit.
Impact play…made by a guy who is learning his place in the Ravens defense…and seems to have his conditioning and weight issues under control.
It creates a scary picture for opponents— with “Mount Cody” backing Haloti Ngata at the NT position — something NFL Network’s Rich Eisen has described as a “Total Eclipse of the Sun” effect… especially when Cody and Ngata are on the field in the same package.
That’s what the Ravens’ D-line will be like with Ngata and Cody manning the middle… Imagine the line with Suggs, Cody, Ngata and Kruger in a 4-3 alignment! Now usually the Ravens play a 3-4 ( 3 down-linemen, 4 linebackers)— more to compensate for Ray Lewis’ cover shortage at his inside linebacker position, as Ray doesn’t have the speed to make it sideline-to-sideline anymore… Thus, most times you’ll see Ray drop a little further back in coverage, or rely more on his pre-snap reads to get the defense in the best alignment.
But If Cody continues to develop and add muscle and strength, he’ll be a dominant force in the NFL for years to come…and the prospect of the Ravens going more to a 4-3 alignment will put tremendous pressure on opposing QB’s. I think solidifying the D-line with both Cody and Ngata in a 4-3 look would result in more defensive penetration from upfront, rather than relying on the LB’s to bring pressure all the time. It would possibly take a little extra coverage pressure off Ray Lewis in his final years, too…
I think we got a nice glimpse of what impact on a game Cody can have when he did that belly-flop on Jamaal Charles. Not only did Charles cough up the ball in what was a true turning point in the game, he was clearly reeling after that – he basically did nothing for the rest of the game.
The Wizard says Cody is ready for the big time… and if Terrence reports to camp (whenever that will be) in better physical shape and conditioning than he did last summer, Cody may already be halway there to a Total Eclipse of the NFL…
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