Ravens Reacts: Defensive Back Breakdown Going into 2023!
Is this the Ravens largest weakness?
Welcome back to another edition of Ravens Reacts, a Cool Sports Newsletter series made by a die hard Ravens fan! It’s the time of year where we need to start breaking down different positions on this Ravens squad. We’re starting off with the defensive backs, maybe Baltimore’s weakest group outside of the pass rush. And some are saying this could be the group that holds Baltimore back from truly contending for a title. But is that true? Is this group that bad? Well, let’s break it down!
Let’s start off with the strong part of this group, Marlon Humphrey. Personally, I think Humphrey is a very interesting player. Because he’s been considered one of the better cornerbacks in football for a while now. And a lot of that has to do with physicality on one-on-one throws, being a balk hawk through the air and on the ground and his ability force fumbles after the catch is made. But perhaps the most interesting part of Humphrey’s game is that he didn’t allow a touchdown in all of 2022!
With all of this being said, Humphrey is also very inconsistent. Not that he can’t be a reliable cornerback, because he already is inside 20 yards, but he allowed 46 receptions last year, a mark that ranked 30th among all cornerbacks in the league. Sometimes he gets burned due to his overcommitment. And there is a reason why the 3x Pro Bowler has never ranked higher than 12th among all cornerbacks in PFF rating.
Overall, Humphrey is still a very good cornerback who can force turnovers easily and shut down receivers on short and medium routes. I’m not saying he brings negative value to the team or anything close to that. The Ravens will definitely miss his presence on the field in the first three-six weeks due to an optional foot surgery because of how good of a football player he really is. But when he is on the field, my point is he’s definitely beatable and exploitable.
The two other stars in this Baltimore secondary are Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton. Williams is a turnover machine. If you need a player on this defense to force a turnover, one of the first guys I’m looking at is Marcus Williams. Williams had four interceptions in just ten games last season, a mark that ranked 11th in football. While the advanced numbers in just coverage in general and defending the deep ball don’t say it, I think Williams is one of the more important parts of this Baltimore defense.
Who the advanced statistics really like is Kyle Hamilton. PFF was very high on the rookie in 2022, as he had the BEST PFF rating for any safety in the league. And it wasn’t even close! Hamilton did such a good job in coverage last season, and overall at just getting stops. He totaled 24 combined stops in just 600 snaps in 2022. Hamilton’s coverage last year was good enough to earn him the 13th spot in PFF’s top 32 safeties going into 2023 list. While the turnovers are yet to come, his deflecting, deep-ball coverage and reading of the defense makes him—to PFF, Chris Bumbaca of USA Today and me—one of the more intriguing players to watch in 2023!
Outside of those three however is where things get tricky at cornerback. Baltimore let go of Marcus Peters and Chuck Clark this offseason for understanding reasons on the field and on the sideline, but they didn’t exactly do a great job at replacing their abilities on the field. Rock Ya-Sin was a solid pickup, be he only ranked 50th in PFF rating among all cornerbacks in football. He’s just average.
Besides that, Ravens 2022 4th round pick who didn’t see much time on the field last year, Damarion Williams, has to take a big jump. Jalyn Armour-Davis was terrible in deep coverage last year. Ronald Darby, like Ya-Sin, is a solid veteran who doesn’t take many risks, and Daryl Worley was good in Week 18 against Cincinnati last season but we haven’t seen a large enough sample size from him just yet. Kevon Seymour is okay at best and Arthur Maulet was never a top tier guy in Pittsburgh. Brandon Stephens has incredible speed and he’s shown some promise in his first two years of the league, but he’s going to have to have a big role as a slot cornerback and backup safety.
The only intriguing backup on this Baltimore squad is Geno Stone. Because obviously he doesn’t make a tremendous impact, but he ranked 28th in the entire NFL in PFF rating for a safety in 2022 because of his coverage in the middle of the field. But Stone isn’t good one-on-one, or could be anywhere close to a number two or number three cornerback that Baltimore is desperately looking for. They have names, some of which that are intriguing, but there is no guarantee that Baltimore can rely on anybody on this squad outside of the big three in Humphrey, Williams and Hamilton.
However, I said outside of the big three. Do you know how many teams in football would wish to have three players that are all high caliber defenders in the secondary like Humphrey, Williams and Hamilton, who I may add all compliment each others game so well? Yes, the depth isn’t there. But having those three on the team already gives you an advantage and more margin for error when it comes to CB2 CB3, Slot and backup safety positions.
I’m not going to sit here at say this secondary is amazing. Because it is weak after those three players. But considering Baltimore DOES have those three players (even if they’re without Humphrey for the first few weeks), I don’t think it could be an area that could hold Baltimore back from possibly competing. And who knows, Darby, Ya-Sin, and Maulet are all veterans who have tremendous experience and could add value in different areas. It’s not the greatest secondary in the world, but with three top tier guys, I don’t think the secondary is going to be holding Baltimore back from achieving any success this coming season!
Signing off from the Flock, I’m Chase Coburn!
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