Ravens’ secondary will be a nightmare for opposing offenses in 2024

The Baltimore Ravens already boasted the deepest and arguably top defensive backfield in the NFL heading into training camp. That was before bringing in two-time Pro Bowl safety Eddie Jackson.

They have what many believe to be the best safety tandem in the league with Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Williams, as well as one of the better cornerback trios with Marlon Humphrey, Brandon Stephens outside and Arthur Maulet in the slot.

In the 2024 NFL Draft, the Ravens doubled down at cornerback, taking Clemson’s Nate Wiggins in the first and Iowa State’s TJ Tampa in the fourth. On paper, this is their deepest cornerback group since 2018. That year, they had a young Humphrey in his second year alongside Jimmy Smith, Brandon Carr, Anthony Averett and Tavon Young.

An underrated need on the defensive side of the ball this offseason was the safety depth behind Hamilton and Williams. With the expected departure in free agency of 2023 AFC interceptions leader, Geno Stone, the third safety spot in the Ravens sub packages was vacated.

Now, that it is slated to be filled by Jackson, who is a renowned ball hawk himself and a former First Team All Pro. Hamilton and the rest of the secondary can continue being deployed in the multitude of ways. Their versatile skill sets can be used to create chaos and confusion for opposing offenses.

“With Eddie included, there are so many different packages,” Humphrey said last week. “Teams just won’t know what we’re doing [or] who’s playing what. Anybody can line up anywhere, and that’s kind of the exciting thing about being in this secondary, is we just have to keep working day by day.”

The three-time Pro Bowler is happy to be reunited with his former college teammate, who he won a national championship with at the University of Alabama. Humphrey believes is he’s ideal candidate to replace Stone in the vital rotational role in the Ravens’ defense.

“He was definitely a piece we needed to [have],” Humphrey said. “We got that depth at the corner position in the Draft, so we just kind of needed that one more safety [and] a couple other additions that I’m sure we’ll probably add.”

The Ravens are among the best in the league at finding bargain-bin veteran free agents around training camp time. These players often go on to play key depth roles or even seize starting spots to make significant contributions.

Last season, they signed Maulet at the start and both outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney and cornerback Ronald Darby in the middle of August. All three of them went on to play crucial roles on the top-ranked defense in 2023 while also enjoying career years. That saw them get paid in the first waves of free agency with Maulet being the only one the Ravens were able to bring back. Jackson will have the opportunity to be this year’s bargain bin training camp signing who signs for pennies and pays off major dividends.

“We seem to do this all the time – just get these vets that come here and do so much for us during the season,” Hamilton said. “It’s going to be so big for us to have him as a part of the team. With the other guys in the DB room – we’re just so deep in that room – we can never get tired, we can never have somebody that’s on the field that’s a liability. It’s just such a disadvantage for the offense to trot out the same people and have us rotating guys. I think it’s really special to have him here.”

Jackson already feels right at home in Baltimore. He has many preexisting relationships stemming from his time with the Chicago Bears, in college and dating all the way back to his time growing up in South Florida. The eight-year veteran didn’t waste any time showcasing his playmaking skills with a pick-six in his first practice as a Raven. He also believes this is the deepest and most competitive defensive back room he’s been a part of since college, when he played alongside Humphrey and Pittsburgh Steelers’ free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

“I’m just coming in trying to be that missing piece on that back end of that defense and do whatever I can to contribute and help us eventually [achieve] a Super Bowl,” Jackson said.

The Ravens coaching staff believes Jackson has plenty left in the tank. They have been impressed with his high football intelligence and movement skills heading into his age-30 season.

“He’s a really smart player, he still can play, he can still move at a high level, and he’s picking up the defense pretty well so far,” defensive coordinator Zach Orr said. I think, just like a lot of guys in that room, he’s going to be able to help us.”

Sometimes having a bevy of versatile pieces, as the Ravens do, can cause the coaches to do too many things instead of focusing on strengths. Orr believes in having a balanced and diverse attack and not being one-dimensional or predictable. However, he wants to continue doing what his predecessor, Mike Macdonald, became renown for and put his players in the best positions and roles to succeed.

“Once we start getting into game week and game planning, the menu is going to be tightened down, and guys are going to know exactly what they’re going to do at that particular spot,” Orr said. “But that’s why you do it early; you kind of stress them early, so they can get used to playing at different spots, and then, when the regular season comes, and the gameplan is tight, it’s just second nature for them.”

The Ravens have several players who can play in the slot at the nickel spot including Humphrey, Wiggins, Maulet and Hamilton, who became a star playing in a hybrid role. As far as how slot snaps will be allocated in the regular season, it will come down to matchups.

“What you’ll see is personnel groups, with different guys in different spots,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “The basic personnel group with Arthur at nickel is a group, and you’ve got a group with Marlon at nickel. You’ve got a group with Kyle down there in at that spot – Kyle could be over at the dime. That’s the beauty of what we have an opportunity to do and a lot of guys to play at a starter level and be on the field and mix it up a little bit and create problems for offenses.”

Ravens’ defensive pass game coordinator and assistant head coach Chris Hewitt called Hamilton a “unicorn” and said that he is “one of one” given the combination of elite traits, measurables and instincts he possesses.

“You always try to have players do primarily as much as possible what they do well and minimize the things they don’t do quite as well,” Harbaugh said. “When you have a player like Kyle Hamilton, who does so many things so well, you want to get him in position to do all of those things.”

Humphrey enjoys playing nickel because it lets him act with more controlled aggression. He’s had some of the greatest seasons of his career playing that role in place of an injured Tavon Young.

“I made my first two Pro Bowls kind of predominantly playing inside there,” Humphrey said. “It’s a place I’m comfortable in, but whichever way it goes, whatever week the gameplan.”

The Ravens’ secondary has been the most dominant unit on the team during training camp thus far. That’s true even since the return of reigning MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, who dealt with an illness for most of last week. If they can carry over this high level of execution into the regular season, there’s no reason — outside of health — for this year’s group not to be even more of a nightmare for opposing offenses every week.