Tough to beat, tougher to find playing time
Rock-solid secondary might be best unit in the league
Maybe the greatest testament to the strength of the Ravens’ secondary through the early days of training camp is how often it has been ignored.
It’s not that Ravens quarterbacks have altogether avoided the team’s cornerbacks and safeties in practice. Like finding a sliver of summertime shade on the practice fields of their Owings Mills facility, it’s just not possible. One-on-one drills, for instance, are defensive backonly.
But when you mix maybe the NFL’s top secondary, maybe the NFL’s least proven group of receivers and a young quarterback who’s definitely more comfortable throwing short passes over the middle of the field, you get a result like Friday’s first 11-on-11 period.
Facing mostly the Ravens’ first-string defense, Lamar Jackson attempted six passes. None went to a wide receiver.
“It’s dangerous,” Jackson said of the secondary. “I told them to keep giving me good looks out there. I need it. [They are the] No. 1 defense to me, real talk.”
As the Ravens build their offense around Jackson, a not-quite-yet-proven 22-year-old, their defensive foundation is well established — and highly compensated. Four of the seven highest-paid Ravens in 2019 play in the secondary: cornerbacks Jimmy Smith ($15.85 million salary cap hit) and Brandon Carr ($7 million) and safeties Tony Jefferson ($12.66 million) and Earl Thomas ($7 million).
The Ravens finished No. 5 overall in pass defense last season and No. 2 in opponent passer rating. Then they replaced the well-respected Eric Weddle with the more dynamic Thomas at safety. With the decision to retain Smith and Carr and the expected development of talented young players Marlon Humphrey and Tavon Young, the Ravens have what Thomas said Friday is the “potential to be the best” secondary in the NFL. Maybe the deepest, too.
“And it starts with attitude, which we already have,” he said. “So now it’s just getting to kick-start everything and making sure we’re on the same page. Communication — I go back to that, because that’s big for us. We have it all. We’re going to hit. We’re going to fly around. We’re very physical and fast. We have big corners on the outside. Tony has the juice at the