The Baltimore Ravens once had the greatest ball hawk of all-time in Ed Reed. Before Reed, the Ravens had an incredible secondary that helped win Super Bowl XXXV. With such a rich history, the following statement is a bold one: The Ravens currently have the best secondary in franchise history:
The Baltimore Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV on defense. While much of the credit surely goes to Ray Lewis and the defensive front, the secondary was incredibly good. Rod Woodson was the free safety, Kim Herring was the strong safety. At this point Woodson had already built a hall of fame career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Herring was a very good strong safety that people tend to forget about.
On one side the Ravens had Chris McAlister and the other starting cornerback was Duane Starks. Baltimore had top 10 picks at cornerback that lived up to their draft selection. Starks led the way with six interceptions and McAlister and Woodson both had four in the 2000 regular season. The secondary was as punishing and intimidating as the front seven was.
The Ravens have that kind of secondary once again. Earl Thomas is a ball hawking free safety. Tony Jefferson is a very good strong safety. The Ravens have four cornerbacks who are all players the team can highly count on. Marlon Humphrey is a cornerback entering the prime of his career. Jimmy Smith is a veteran cornerback whose best performance is still borderline elite. Brandon Carr has been in the NFL a long time and he’s never missed a game. Tavon Young is one of the best nickel cornerbacks in the league when he’s healthy.
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The Ravens depth is as impressive as the starting units. We’ve already had conversations about the Ravens having the best secondary in the NFL. It’s hard to dispute that on a talent basis the Ravens secondary is the supreme secondary on the NFL landscape. Thinking bigger, this could be the best secondary the Baltimore Ravens have ever had.
The Ravens have more depth in the back-end of their defense than they ever have before. They have a handful of safeties that can contribute in sub packages. Anthony Levine Sr. can be used as an extra linebacker or a hovering defensive back, for example. The Ravens depth isn’t just a plan B and a plan C. They have players that can contribute.
They also have players who they can stash for the future. Iman Marshal and Anthony Averett may not be asked to do a lot on defense this season. They both have incredible potential and could be future stars for the Ravens.
Even when the Ravens had the 2000 defense, they didn’t have this much depth. Even when the Ravens had Ed Reed and Chris McAlister as Pro Bowl level talents, the Ravens never had this complete of a picture in the secondary.
This is the exact opposite of the 2014 defense. In 2014 the Ravens had an incredible pass rush and the secondary was thin and became the biggest weakness. In 2019 the Ravens have a crazy good secondary but the pass rush has become a question mark for them.
The Ravens have a chance to make history with this secondary. It’s a bold statement but it can happen. It has to come together, however there is no reason to think it won’t. The back end of the defense was a strength last season. It will be better this season. It may be as good as we’ve ever seen.