3 stats Baltimore Ravens fans must know about Rock Ya-Sin

When the Baltimore Ravens waited until round five to draft a cornerback in the 2023 NFL draft the odds of them signing a cornerback went up substantially. The initial thought was that the Ravens would just call an old name in Marcus Peters. However, they brought Rock Ya-Sin into the facility a month or so ago, and they reached back out to him instead, inking him to a deal.

So, if the Baltimore Ravens added Marcus Peters there would be no need for introductions, now the team has added a new face. What do Ravens fans need to know about Rock Ya-Sin?

3. Rock Ya-Sin is an outside, zone cornerback

Rock Ya-Sin was a former second-round pick, and he went 34th overall, so he could have been a first-round selection. This shows as he has four years in the NFL and he has been a starter for all four seasons. As a rookie, he played 853 snaps, and then 550 in 2020, per PFF. In 2021 he played 592 snaps, and he played 663 snaps last season.

Overall Rock Ya-Sin has 2,658 snaps in total on defense, and he has 1,728 snaps in coverage. Of his total snaps, he has 108 in the slot, and 209 in the box or along the defensive line. He has 2,338 snaps on the outside. So, needless to say, this signing will impact Brandon Stephens more than it will impact Pepe Williams.

More than that, it is interesting to note that he has only played 27.7% of the snaps in his career in man coverage. He was drafted by a zone-heavy team, and then he was traded to a zone-heavy team.

This is worth noting because one big change from Wink Martindale to Mike MacDonald is that they went to a more zone-heavy back end. In 2021 Marlon Humphrey was in man 40% of the time and last season that dropped to 23%. So, Rock Ya-Sin does make sense as a fit for a more zone-based scheme with the Ravens this year.