Ravens: 5 players who must step up following the DeShon Elliott injury

1. Brandon Stephens, S, Ravens

Brandon Stephens is the de facto next-man-up following DeShon Elliott’s injury. We’ve already seen that twice this season when Stephens stepped into a starting role in Weeks 4 and 5 while Elliott was temporarily sidelined.

Now, that role will become permanent.

A third-round pick in this year’s draft, Stephens was playing running back just a few years ago before making the switch to defense. However, that switch didn’t involve him playing safety.

Instead, Stephens started at cornerback at SMU and was drafted as somewhat of a cornerback/safety hybrid. He’s played almost exclusively safety in Baltimore and that will certainly continue with Elliott injured.

Stephens has been hit-or-miss as a rookie this season. Which, given his lack of experience at the position, should have been expected.

The 23-year-old had played a whopping 48 percent of defensive snaps going into Sunday’s game which is likely a higher percentage than the Ravens expected when they drafted him this year.

Stephens was supposed to be somewhat of a project. A player the Ravens could stash and develop in their deep secondary while he continued to learn his new position.

But neither player nor team will be afforded that opportunity now.

It’s Brandon Stephens’ time to shine. No player will be counted on more with DeShon Elliott out than the third-round rookie himself.