Baltimore Ravens week 3 spotlight: Anthony Averett

Tavon Young is expected to miss significant time for the Baltimore Ravens, so the team will be looking for a guy to step up. Could that be Anthony Averett?

The Baltimore Ravens secondary is a loaded one even after the loss of Tavon Young to a knee injury. The depth is tremendous between Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, and Jimmy Smith, so the Ravens can absorb Young’s loss. Nonetheless, Baltimore will be looking to Anthony Averett to step up now.

Averett is a third-year player and former fourth-round draft choice out of Alabama. Averett was expected to be a key depth player from day one but has yet to make that kind of impact for the Ravens. Instead, Averett has been a liability when he’s been on the field and has likely been close to being cut before.

If there was ever a time for Anthony Averett to step his game up, it would be on Monday Night Football when the Kansas City Chiefs come to town.

Kansas City’s offense is fast and dynamic with All-Pro Tyreek Hill headlining the wide receiver group. Hill is perhaps the fastest player in all of football and he’s closely followed by guys like Sammy Watkins and Mecole Hardman. Couple these dudes with Patrick Mahomes‘ unreal arm strength and you have yourself the best deep-passing attack in the NFL.

Thankfully Baltimore has itself a great secondary as we mentioned before. However, the Ravens will still need Anthony Averett to bring his A-game against the Chiefs.

Smith isn’t an every-down cover man at this point in his career, and Humphrey and Peters don’t have the deep speed to consistently lock down these speedy receivers. Besides, they’ll be busy teaming up to clamp up Hill. Averett, however, is the fastest corner the team has and will likely have a large role in store for him. Averett has some experience playing outside and Humphrey showed last year that he can excel in the slot.

There’s a very good chance we see a lot of action from Anthony Averett. Kansas City knows this and also knows that he’s the weakest link in this secondary. They’re going to do everything they can to get one-on-ones on Averett. It’ll be up to him to make sure he’s not blowing his assignments because if he does Baltimore may lose this game.

The Kansas City Chiefs are going to go after Anthony Averett early and often. Here’s to hoping Averett is ready for the challenge and can step up in a critical game for the Baltimore Ravens. At a minimum, he should receive some help to make his life a bit easier. Regardless, the spotlight is firmly on Averett to see how he plays against the best-of-the-best Monday night.