Keyon Martin entered the 2026 season looking like a depth corner and a special teams piece. After Week 1, the picture is a little bigger than that.
Martin logged 23 defensive snaps against the Indianapolis Colts, according to Pro Football Focus, and that workload says plenty about where he sits in Jesse Minter’s plans. With Chandler Rivers inactive, Martin didn’t have much resistance for the backup slot corner job on Sunday. Add in Marlon Humphrey moving to the boundary and Kyle Hamilton roaming all over the field, and the opening was there for Martin to get on the field early.
He took advantage of the chance to play, even if the performance itself was uneven.
The Ravens have been building toward this for a while. Martin, an undrafted free agent in 2025, forced his way onto the roster last year with a run of preseason plays that changed games and earned him a spot on the 53-man roster. This offseason, he again looked like a player who might be on shaky ground, but the coaching staff’s view of him changed quickly.
Back in August, Minter made that clear.
“[Martin’s] got a knack for making plays,” Minter said. “That’s all he does…You love to see that from guys.”
Martin carried that momentum through camp and into the regular season, to the point that he wasn’t just safe on the roster - he was moving into the defensive rotation. On Sunday, he broke through and was on the field for the Colts’ opening drive.
The way Baltimore lined up made the role easy to read. Nate Wiggins and Marlon Humphrey were the outside corners, while Hamilton continued to be the chess piece who could line up anywhere.
And when Hamilton wasn’t in the slot, Martin looked like the next man up. Chidobe Awuzie didn’t get the kind of run that might have been expected, while Martin became the player Minter leaned on.
The numbers back that up. Martin’s 23 snaps dwarfed Awuzie’s 6.
T.J. Tampa didn’t play a defensive snap, though he left in the first quarter with a knee injury.
As for Martin’s actual play, there’s still work to do. He had moments where coverage broke down, including a third-and-8 conversion to Josh Downs in the first quarter that helped set up a touchdown drive.
Even so, the secondary settled in after that. Baltimore held Daniel Jones to 19-for-31 passing for 166 yards, one touchdown, and one interception, and the group handled a Colts receiving corps featuring Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, and Tyler Warren.
Martin didn’t deliver a statement game. But he did something just as important: he earned trust. The Ravens clearly believe he can handle the slot when Hamilton is needed closer to the line, and that alone makes him a name to watch.
It’s a solid start. Now he has to make it stick.
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