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.
2. Rock Ya-Sin has statistically improved each season
One of the reasons that Rock Ya-Sin fell out of round one is that he was not very experienced overall and just climbed his way up the depth chart at Temple. Needless to say, it took him some time to find his footing during the jump.
In his first two NFL seasons Rock Ya-Sin was allowing 1 yard per snap, and then 1.66 yards per snap. Then, things started to come together. In 2021 he was allowing 0.63 yards per snap, and then last season it was at 0.81. His yards per snap went up a bit, but his passer rating against dropped.
In his first two seasons, his passer rating against was 101, and 105. That number dropped to 93 in 2021, and then 83 last season. That is because he went from three touchdowns allowed to just one.
On top of that, he had 15 penalties in his first two seasons and just seven in the past two. Rock Ya-Sin will only be 27 years old.
He was pretty bad in 2020 and then got traded after 2021, so fans are probably out on him or think his reputation is worse. However, there is a chance that his best football is in the next three seasons.
1. Rock Ya-Sin will not bring much ball production to the Baltimore Ravens
One of the reasons that Rock Ya-Sin was not sought atfer in free agency was that he had a poor go of it during his first two NFL seasons. The other is that he has such little ball production. In his career he has two interceptions, and those came during his first two seasons. So, he has no picks the last two years, but his play has improved overall.
Beyond that, he has just 20 pass break ups over the course of his four-year career. Sauce Gardner had 14 PBUs last year. Ya-Sin had five last season which was tied with 14 people for 55th overall amongst CBs. His career high is seven, which is hardly top 30 amongst CBs.
So, when you struggled in 2020, dealt with an injury in 2021, got traded, and then posted zero interceptions on a Raiders team that picked top ten, you are going to fly under the radar. Still, Rock Ya-Sin started the first four seasons of his career, and if he is healthy it is hard to think that he will not be starting for the Ravens this season.
Of course, Kyu Blu Kelly, Trayvon Mullen, and Bradon Stephens will compete, but it is hard to see Rock Ya-Sin not coming in and winning that job.