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“I don’t know where to put you”
Speaking on a December 27 edition of the “Pat McAfee Show,” Baltimore Ravens pass rusher Kyle Van Noy recalled his experiences with the team that haunt him to this day.
“I’m trying to avoid the Detroit talk because it kind of brings back some nightmares a little bit just because when I was there my position coach legit looked me in my face for two years and said, ‘we think you’re a good football player, but we don’t know where to put you.’ That was pretty tough,” he said.
“I think it helped me mature as a professional. … I’ll admit it, I was depressed during that time because it was the first time in my entire life that I’ve had that I didn’t have success in athletics,” he added.
Of course, since then, he has given the Lions multiple reasons to regret choosing to move on from the pass rusher.
Kyle Van Noy’s grind to the top
His career began in 2014 when he was drafted 40th overall in the 2014 NFL Draft. Of course, not knowing where to use a 40th overall selected pick might be an indication of the state of the team at that time. However, Van Noy managed to hang around with the team for three years before making his exit for his first big break.
Van Noy went to the New England Patriots as they went into their final series of Super Bowls with Tom Brady. Between 2016 and 2019, he would go on to win multiple Super Bowls and elevate into becoming a mid-tier starting pass rusher, earning at least five sacks twice. The pass rusher then began bouncing around from the Patriots to the Dolphins back to the Patriots, the Chargers, and eventually Baltimore in 2023.
Van Noy has seen career highs in sack totals in each of his first two seasons with the team at age 32 and 33.