A No-Fly Zone in Baltimore

The Ravens Secondary Is Reloading Not Rebuilding

2023 was a season for the history books for the Ravens defense and their secondary. The Ravens lead the league in points allowed (16.5 per game), takeaways (31), and sacks (60) en route to the NFL’s first Triple Crown. Baltimore entered the offseason with a plethora of top free agents in-house and a limited amount of money to work with. Geno Stone, who ranked 2nd in the NFL in interceptions, would stay in the division heading to the Bengals on a 2yr/$15m deal. Ronald Darby, the Ravens highest rated corner in coverage per PFF would head south to Jacksonville on a 2yr/$8.5m deal, and Rock Ya-Sin out West to San Francisco.

Just a week into free agency the Ravens’ secondary was picked apart. General Manager Eric DeCosta had his work cut out for him, finding players capable of filling the losses on one of the lowest budgets in the NFL. DeCosta began by bringing back veteran corner Arthur Maulet, an under looked contributor to the Ravens defense in 2023. The focus would flip to the draft where the Ravens would make two of their biggest additions of the offseason, selecting speedy corner Nate Wiggins out of Clemson in the first round and watching the hard-hitting corner T.J Tampa from Iowa St fall in their lap in the fourth round. Within a month the Ravens secondary looked more promising than ever.

Coming Hot Out of the Gates

Baltimore entered camp with a lot of excitement surrounding their secondary and the new young corps. From day one the Ravens defense has shown up ready to return to their dominance from a season ago. Marlon Humphrey, riddled by injuries last year, has seemed to return to his former self coming up with multiple interceptions to begin the summer while Brandon Stephens has looked the part of a potential CB1 suffocating receivers in coverage.

The Ravens saw some flashes of greatness from first-round pick Nate Wiggins against the Eagles in the team’s preseason opener, coming up with a team-high three PBU while holding opposing receivers to two catches on 6 targets. Rookie corner T.J. Tampa was activated off the PUP list last week and appears to be on track to make his preseason debut Saturday afternoon against the Packers.

All the focus can’t be put strictly on the corners especially with arguably the best safety duo in the league sitting in the building. Kyle Hamilton coming off a First Team All-Pro selection as well as his first Pro Bowl appearance, shows the potential for a DPOY run in 2024. Marcus Williams played a majority of the 2023 season with a torn pectoral after opting out of surgery following the Week 1 injury. All signs have pointed to a healthy and potential bounce-back year for the ball-hawking safety who hasn’t played a full season since signing with the Ravens in 2022. It’s only August but the Ravens defense hopes to carry their turnover success into the regular season.

The Core is Set. Who’s Getting the Final Spots?

Humphrey, Stephens, Wiggins, Maulet, and Tampa seem to be the locks at corner while Hamilton, Williams, and Eddie Jackson are the expected safeties to clear roster cuts without even a thought. Baltimore, who carried six corners and three safeties on most game days last season, has roughly 10 players fighting for what seems to be the final two roster spots in the secondary.

You could look at a list of the remaining players and find multiple guys worthy of a 53-man roster spot on an NFL roster. Players like Ar’Darius Washington and Damarion “Pepe” Williams are most notably on the bubble as camp winds down. Two players who continue to show potential only to be shut down with a season-ending injury, have had the strongest camps of their careers thus far. Both young safeties have looked strong up to this point, heading into the Ravens final preseason game this weekend against the Packers.

Washington was one of the few bright spots for the Ravens in Thursday’s joint practice coming up with a TD saving stop in the red zone during 11on11’s against the Packers first-team offense. Williams and Washington’s playstyles seem to be the best fit when it comes to replacing corner Arthur Maulet who’s expected to miss the start of the season following a scope to his knee.

Maulet shined as a slot specialist for the Ravens in 2023, a position Washington has shown a high level of comfort at, both last season and throughout camp. Williams has received his fair share of reps to this point as well, ranking second in snaps played this preseason for the Ravens secondary with 106. The decisions made to cut the roster down to 53 are always hard to make, when you’ve built your deep secondary with a lot of homegrown talent, it becomes even harder.

What Should We Expect in 2024?

With question marks surrounding the Ravens offense the performance of the Ravens defense is expected to be one of the major roles in determining the success of the team in 2024. Regardless of the decisions the coaching staff makes to fill the final positions, one thing is for certain, this is the most skilled the Ravens have been in the secondary since arguably 2019. Baltimore has a little bit of everything in their secondary with speed, exceptional coverage skills, veteran leadership, high motors, and a lot of chips on players’ shoulders.

Newly hired Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr spent the 2023 season as the team’s Inside Linebackers Coach learning under now HC of the Seahawks, Mike Macdonald. Orr is more than aware of the skill level his defense possesses and the havoc it can cause opposing offenses when put in the right situations. Orr stated the team “is trying to eliminate explosive plays from the offense and taking the ball away.” a basic statement, but a meaningful one playing in such a high-powered division like the AFC North.

Orr’s experience both playing and coaching has allowed him to relate to his players on a more personal level, giving multiple defensive starters a high level of excitement for the things to come in 2024.

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2024/08/23/street-talk/ravens-secondary-2024/