2023 Ravens Positional Previews: Secondary

In our final preseason position preview, we take a look at Baltimore’s defensive backfield. It’s a position with elite starting talent but also with considerable questions regarding its depth. 

Given the state of NFL offenses being so multi-faceted, defenses need to be equally equipped to handle multiple looks in a given personnel package. Defensive linemen have become pretty diverse in their skill sets, and linebackers, too, to an extent. But no position on the field, I’d argue, is tasked with being more versatile than defensive backs. 

For starters, there isn’t really a set template of what a defense looks like anymore. Fifteen years ago, a lot of defensive backfields had true field (far hash to sideline) and boundary (near hash to sideline) corners, and true strong and free safeties. While those still exist, the evolution of the game has produced more nickel (five defensive backs) and dime (six defensive backs) packages, along with corner backs who will matchup with a given wideout. 

The advent of this shift can be viewed in a couple of ways. Skeptics can say it’s overcomplicating what is a simple game and if you try to specialize too much, you risk losing the essence of who you really are as a defense. Contrarily, proponents would argue that the possibilities offenses have seem endless, so you need to prepare to defend accordingly. 

For instance, if a team like the Bengals who has an elite quarterback/wide receiver duo can change the play and tempo on the fly, will you be able to defend that from a fairly basic look? Maybe, but over the course of a game, you’re likely to lose more plays than you win. 

It’s worth noting that defensive coordinators who favor being more aggressive aren’t being reckless. There’s a plan—a specific plan—for how to deal with what the offense could perceivably run on gameday. They’ve learned that the limited practice time allowed under the CBA each week has to include substantial addressing of contingencies. In other words, things happen so fast in a football game that you don’t have time to think about what to do—you just need to execute your preparation. 

Over the years, the Ravens have done well to draft players that fit this profile to their defensive backfield. Somehow, Ed Reed dropped to them at No. 24 in 2002, on the heels of Rod Woodson helping them win a Super Bowl two years prior, no less. From there, the Ravens defense and a ball hawking secondary became synonymous with each other. Chris McAlister, Chad Williams, Dawan Landry, Lardarius Webb, Corey Graham, Jimmy Smith, Eric Weddle, DeShon Elliott, Chuck Clark, and Marcus Peters were all men who made significant contributions to the Ravens defense.  

Fast forward to today, and Baltimore’s starters are no less talented. Safeties Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton will set the tone on the back end of the defense, though Hamilton figures to be moved around frequently due to his particularly unique skill set. 

Williams enters his second year with the Ravens having made a great first impression in 2022. He started the season in Week 1, sustained and recovered from an injury, and finished the year helping the Ravens make the postseason. In only 10 games, he made 63 tackles, 8 pass breakups, and 4 interceptions. Like Roquan Smith, Williams kind of played with house money last year. But now, with a full offseason as a Raven and no contract worries in sight, he figures to really take off in 2023. 

At cornerback, we start with Marlon Humphrey and Arthur Maulet. Humphrey is a perennial All-Pro candidate. He’s just so solid, sound, physical, and fearless that at any point, he can make a game-changing play. There really aren’t that many players—at any position—in the NFL that can do that. Humphrey enters year seven with only 12 interceptions to his name. While I know he’d like to have more, the downside to his prowess is that quarterbacks don’t want to throw his way very much. 

Maulet is a player the Ravens recently acquired in free agency after he was released by the Steelers. He actually entered the league the same year Humphrey did, although Marlon was a 1st round draft choice and Maulet was an undrafted free agent. Last year, Maulet performed solidly for Pittsburgh. “He also led Pittsburgh in special teams tackles.” (Ryan Mink, BaltimoreRavens.com) 

While Maulet could start, he would at worst provide key depth. And that is where the conversation takes a turn. 

After the departure of Peters, the Ravens signed Rock Ya-Sin to presumably start opposite Humphrey. Unfortunately, Ya-Sin picked up an injury on August 2nd, though John Harbaugh says it should be a short-term injury. Still, that’s not what you want to hear after already having slim depth at the position and coming off of two disastrous years of injury-laden woes. 

The Ravens did draft Kyu Blu Kelly this year from Stanford and are high on him. They also have good backups in Jalyn Armour-Davis and Pepe Williams. While all three of those guys show promise at cornerback, they’re still untested. This preseason will be huge for all of them. A team with championship aspirations cannot afford uncertainty at any position, so the Ravens will need to shore up this spot in only a matter of weeks. 

One positive we can end our series on is this. According to Football Outsiders, in 2022 the Ravens ranked 11th in pass defense. However, they were extremely susceptible to the deep ball. Their DVOA on deep passes was 2nd-worst in the league at 50.4 percent. For reference, a low DVOA in this case is better. It’s a positive note because if they were able to absorb such poor coverage on deep passes en route to an overall ranking of 11th place, all while figuring out a new defensive system, this year can only get better. 

We may not get all the answers we’re looking for in the preseason, but as long as they stay healthy and stay the course, I have full confidence in Baltimore’s defensive backfield to be a Top 5 unit by seasons end.