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Five Ravens most likely to make a jump in 2020

By Corey Meihls

Marcus Peters, Ravens (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Marcus Peters, Ravens (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
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BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – JANUARY 11: Earl Thomas III #29 of the Baltimore Ravens sacks Ryan Tannehill #17 of the Tennessee Titans during the first quarter in the AFC Divisional Playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium on January 11, 2020, in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – JANUARY 11: Earl Thomas III #29 of the Baltimore Ravens sacks Ryan Tannehill #17 of the Tennessee Titans during the first quarter in the AFC Divisional Playoff game at M&T Bank Stadium on January 11, 2020, in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Earl Thomas:

2019 was an odd year for Earl Thomas. Having joined the Ravens off of free agency, Thomas was moving across the country, entering a new system and team, and coming off of a broken leg that cut his 2018 season short in Seattle. Thomas had every excuse to play an average season, and while some Ravens fans would rather just count interceptions when gauging a safety’s success, it seems that most think Earl Thomas had a solid-to-good first season in Baltimore.

Earl Thomas played all over the field in 2019. He was able to achieve not just 2 interceptions, but 2 sacks, 6 QB hits, and even 2 tackles for a loss. Not a bad spread of stats for a safety. However, my favorite stat is the 44% completion percentage and the passer rating of 24.2 that Earl Thomas caused for opposing quarterbacks. Remember, to make this stat even more impressive, Thomas played against the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, and Tom Brady in 2019.

Much like Marcus Peters, I think another off-season preparing within Don Martindale’s system, and the beefed-up d-line will lead to an interception number jump for Thomas. I also believe Thomas will work on his tackling angles and strength conditioning after being man-handled by Derrick Henry in the playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans.

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Of course, all of these predictions and assumptions could prove irrelevant once the actual season starts, but by looking at the 2020 Ravens roster and schedule, it seems these Ravens (bare minimum) are about to see a decent jump in their performance from 2019. The defining link between the five players mentioned in this article is their drive to improve and succeed. These are players that appeared to get better as the season wore on. These are players that are motivated to prove something. Finally, and luckily for them, these are also players with amazing physical attributes with a team and coaching staff surrounding them that will help maximize those attributes.

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