Ravens: Could Marcus Peters’ past demons haunt Baltimore in 2021?
By Chris Cox
Risky Business
With the 18th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, the Chiefs selected, to the surprise of many draft analysts, Marcus Peters. While Peters had dropped out of the top 10, the Chiefs still invested significant draft capital in a player with several red flags.
In his first season, he rewarded their confidence with a league-leading eight interceptions and a trip to the Pro Bowl. In his second season, he earned a second Pro Bowl berth, in addition to being voted a first-team All-Pro.
The Chiefs appeared to have made the right choice.
Which is why it came as such a surprise, after a third season that was nearly as good as the first two, that Kansas City decided to trade Peters to the Los Angeles Rams for second and fourth-round draft picks.
According to Peter King, prior to the trade, the Chiefs called every other NFL team to gauge their interest in Peters.
"“Peters’ behavior had become erratic, apparently, capped by the Week 13 meltdown in the Meadowlands. The Chiefs decided they couldn’t trust his behavior anymore and, despite his playmaking ability, felt whatever they could fetch for him in trade would be better than Peters returning in 2018.”"
The meltdown to which King referred included Peters throwing a referee’s flag into the stands. It’s part of the reason that 28 of the NFL’s teams passed on making even a reasonable offer for Peters.
The Rams, however, hoped pairing Marcus Peters with Aqib Talib would provide them with the league’s top cornerback duo.
Brief Stay in Los Angeles
In his last season with Kansas City, Peters’ PFF rating of 80.7 ranked him among the top cornerbacks in the league. In his first season with the Rams, however, his rating tanked to 60.1.
During his Chiefs tenure, Peters allowed the lowest passer rating against of any cornerback.
Since 2015, no defender has allowed a lower passer rating in their coverage than Marcus Peters. pic.twitter.com/7jcjrYUvOn
— PFF (@PFF) February 22, 2018
In his first year with the Rams, however, his passer rating allowed ballooned to 104.2.
Although Peters’ play recovered in 2019, his second Rams season, his first year had already caused Rams management to sour on him. Unlike the fallout in Kansas City, Los Angeles was turned off by what Marcus Peters’ had done on-field.
Marcus Peters career has been rapidly declining. Won’t tackle—- guesses and not disciplined in system. It will take a great deal for Ravens to make him better.
— Michael Lombardi (@mlombardiNFL) October 15, 2019
Shortly after trading Peters to the Ravens, the Rams sent two first-round draft picks to Jacksonville for Jalen Ramsey — perennially considered by many to be the NFL’s top cornerback.