Baltimore Ravens: Kamalei Correa dazzles in 2018 preseason debut
With 2018 being a make-or-break season for Kamalei Correa, the third-year pro certainly showed out in his preseason debut during the Hall of Fame Game.
It wasn’t too long ago that I discussed how Kamalei Correa could redeem himself in 2018 and shed his “bust” label to become a household name on the Ravens defense. If his performance in the 2018 NFL Hall of Fame Game is any indication of what’s to come, he’ll prove me right, and then some.
Correa, a third-year pro out of Boise State, was selected in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft in hopes of him becoming an immediate difference maker on what was then-thought to be an up-incoming Ravens defense.
Unfortunately, only one of those things proved to be true.
While the Ravens defense got significantly better from 2015 to 2016, Correa was quickly forgotten about by coaches and seemed destined to become another Ravens’ second round miss. But how quickly things have changed following Thursday night’s preseason win against the Chicago Bears.
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Correa would wind up leading the team in tackles (five) and sacks (3.0), while also recording an interception. Correa also forced a fumble on one of his sacks, adding a cherry on top of what was one of the best preseason performances I can remember. The emphasis on the previous sentence, of course, being preseason. However, that’s no reason to overlook Correa’s performance.
Turning the corner?
Lining back at outside linebacker, Kamalei Correa looked much more at home than he has in a while. The comfort-ability clearly showed, as Correa was nothing short of spectacular. Should Correa find a way to continue dominating the preseason the way he did Thursday night, he should be a lock for the 53-man roster. Not only this, but perhaps he finds himself a role in the Ravens pass rushing rotation.
It’s obvious that Correa has a lot of proving left to do. His selection has left a sour taste in a lot of mouths and shouldn’t be handed a starting job after one good game. We need to remember that this is just the preseason, and it is incredibly dangerous to make such big assumptions after a game as meaningless as the Hall of Fame Game.
With that being said, we should congratulate and praise Correa for his play! Cheering against anyone is immoral, and watching Correa find success should make everyone happy.
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It’s never too late to turn your career around, and perhaps this is the first sign of things to come for Kamalei Correa. With four preseason games remaining before the kickoff of the 2018 NFL season, there is still tons of time for Mr. Correa to continue dazzling us and earn himself a spot on the Baltimore Ravens 2018 team.