The incredible resurrection of Kyle Van Noy’s NFL career

One of the most notable and underreported NFL stories is the incredible success that former BYU star Kyle Van Noy had with the Baltimore Ravens over the past two seasons.

Somehow, at age 33 and in his 11th NFL season, he is playing the best football of his career. At a time when most players are either retired or their production has significantly declined, KVN has unexpectedly emerged as one of the league’s best pass rushers.

In 27 games over the last two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, Kyle Van Noy has recorded 18 sacks, 25 quarterback hits and 32 pressures. per Football Reference.

And that glorious part of his career almost never happened.

Here is the unlikely story of Kyle Van Noy’s journey from BYU star to rejected young player to Super Bowl champion to unemployed player to now dominating the Baltimore Ravens.

Kyle Van Noy’s career in Baltimore wasn’t just revived – it was resurrected from the dead.

Dominated at BYU

During his time in Provo, Kyle Van Noy put together arguably the best career ever for a BYU defensive player. Van Noy’s 2013 senior season began with preseason All-American honors and ended as a semifinalist for the Butkus Award.

Many Cougar fans remember Van Noy’s incredible performance in the 2012 Poinsettia Bowl when he scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter – one on a strip sack and one on a pick-six – as the highlight of his all-round dominance, helping BYU to a 23-6 victory.

In 2014, Van Noy entered the NFL draft, leaving Provo for Detroit after the Lions selected him in the second round.

From Down in Detroit to Playing with the Patriots (2014-2019)

Despite his outstanding career at BYU and his high draft status, Van Noy’s NFL career got off to a rocky start in Detroit.

The fit with the Lions program and coaching staff just never seemed right. His rookie season in 2014 was limited to eight games due to injury and he recorded just six tackles that year. In 2015, he played in 15 games with just 10 tackles and one sack. But by 2016, KVN secured a starting position and had 23 tackles in seven games (all starts).

Then, inexplicably, the Lions traded the young, improving linebacker to Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots for the paltry sum of a seventh- and sixth-round pick swap in 2017. Over the past few decades, Detroit’s front office has had a variety of terrible ones Transactions are carried out, and this trade is among the worst.

Over the next three and a half seasons, Van Noy thrived in New England. In 51 games, he recorded 250 tackles, 16.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. But in the playoffs, during the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady heyday in New England, he was even better, recording 5.5 sacks in 10 playoff games and helping the Patriots to two Super Bowl victories.

The Productive Journeyman (2020-2022)

After leaving New England following the 2019 season, Kyle Van Noy began the phase of this career as a productive one-year journeyman.

He spent 2020 with the Miami Dolphins, recording an impressive 69 tackles and six sacks, but it was his only season with the team.

In 2021, the Patriots reported again and KVN spent another year with his former teams, contributing a productive 66 tackles, five sacks and ten passes defensed. Although he helped the Pats reach the playoffs, Van Noy was on the move again after the season ended.

He spent his 2022 season with the Los Angeles Chargers, where he recorded a solid 46 tackles and five sacks. For the second straight year, the former BYU star helped propel his team to the postseason. However, with no long-term contract with the Chargers, Van Noy would once again look for a new opportunity.

Unemployment (Weeks 1-3 of the 2023 Season)

Entering the 2023 free agency period, KVN had had three highly productive seasons, averaging nearly 16 games with over 60 tackles and five sacks per year. At 31, he was a veteran, but he was far from finished.

Despite his solid play, the right contract didn’t materialize during the free agency period.

When the 2023 season began, Kyle Van Noy was out of work and watching the games at home on his television like the rest of us.

When the second week’s games got underway, KVN was still waiting for his phone to ring.

As Week 3 came and went, it wasn’t unreasonable to wonder if Kyle Van Noy would even play in 2023. And if he doesn’t get another chance this year, could his career suddenly be over?

And then the phone rang.

On September 26, 2023, the Baltimore Ravens reached an agreement with the productive, unemployed veteran. The 2-1 Ravens had suffered a series of injuries to their outside linebackers, and as a team with Super Bowl aspirations, they needed a capable, plug-and-play staff. A few days later, KVN made his Ravens debut and played 23 defensive snaps with a quarterback hit and a pass defended in a Baltimore win.

And he only got better from there.

The Resurrection of the Ravens

Despite joining the Ravens’ defense from his couch at the start of Week 4, Van Noy emerged as one of the most influential players on Baltimore’s vaunted defense last year. His nine sacks ranked third on the team and his nine tackles for loss ranked tied for third. His nine quarterback hits and 12 pressures ranked fourth.

The 2023 Baltimore Ravens went 13-4 in their division and reached the AFC Championship Game before losing 17-10 to the Kansas City Chiefs.

In 2023, Kyle Van Noy set a career high with nine sacks, a feat achieved by few players at age 32 and in their 10th NFL season. While Van Noy was always good at getting to the quarterback — he had 31.5 sacks over the past six seasons — he emerged as a pass rusher in Baltimore. Before recording nine sacks last year, his previous high was 6.5 sacks in 2019.

After Van Noy’s outstanding play in 2023, the Ravens understandably wanted him back. They rewarded him with a two-year, $9 million contract that runs through the 2025 season.

And so far, Kyle Van Noy is exceeding his cap hit in 2024.

He began this season as perhaps the NFL’s most effective pass rusher. He had two sacks in each game from Weeks 2 to 4 and was awarded the AFC’s Defensive Player of the Month forgive.

In 13 games this year, he has already matched his career high with nine more sacks and set new career highs with 11 tackles for loss and 16 quarterback hits. With three games to go, he could very well reach double-digit sacks for the first time in his outstanding NFL career. One could argue that he deserves a Pro Bowl selection.

With 18 sacks in 27 games with the Baltimore Ravens over the past two seasons, Kyle Van Noy has established himself as one of the NFL’s best rushers, a remarkable feat for a 33-year-old veteran who has never had more than 6.5 sacks in a season before moving to the Ravens last year.

Kyle Van Noy’s winding career journey has taken him from BYU star, to young underdog with the Detroit Lions, to Super Bowl champion with the Patriots, to veteran journeyman, to unemployed on the couch and today to one of the NFL’s most disruptive pass rushers.

Kyle Van Noy’s career wasn’t just revived with the Baltimore Ravens.

It has risen again.

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