Rookie head coach Jesse Minter can keep saying the right things, and he has. But the Ravens’ secondary is still giving him a headache, especially at cornerback, where the production hasn’t matched the volume of resources poured into the group.
Baltimore has leaned on dime looks more than anyone else in the AFC, using that package 33% of the time, nearly twice as often as anyone else in the conference. Even with all those extra defensive backs on the field, the results have been thin. Kyle Hamilton, now spending more time as a linebacker-type hybrid, has already made it clear the standard isn’t being met.
The schedule won’t give them much breathing room. Joe Burrow is coming off a bye on Sunday, then Josh Allen arrives in Buffalo also off a bye, and Trevor Lawrence, Bryce Young and CJ Stroud are all in good form and waiting ahead. That makes the cornerback problem feel a lot more urgent right now.
Minter said Wednesday that the defense keeps finding new things to chase.
“I think every week we're chasing certain things,” Minter said on Wednesday. “Really, after the Dallas game, I didn't think we - as much as their weapons were what they were - I really didn't think we played the run that well and played blocks and played really physically.
I thought going into that next game we really improved in that area. Then it was obviously third down, and we're chasing improvement in that area.
“So, I think there's a lot of things that the guys are getting more in tune with each other, with how we play, physicality, being able to stop the run and the different coverages that we try to play. But there's always a million things that we're chasing, and it's no different this week.
But I do see - I've told the defense now for a few weeks in a row, you see improvement. We're not anywhere where we want to be, but I see us getting better.
And to Kyle's point, let's just keep chasing improvement every single day."
Even with that progress talk, the Ravens need a real solution at corner, and the answer may start with getting Tampa on the field. He’s back from his latest injury setback, and the Ravens need more than a few dime snaps from him. They need him with a genuine role, the kind that gives him a runway to matter on the outside.
That would also let Marlon Humphrey shift into the slot, where the Ravens badly need steadier play. Keyon Martin and Chandler Rivers have been getting hammered there, with the slot numbers looking rough: a 117.7 passer rating allowed, which ranks 27th, and 510 yards allowed, also 27th. Overall, the corners are allowing a bottom-10 passer rating and have only a handful of pass breakups with no interceptions, despite being targeted more in the fourth quarter than anyone else.
Chidobe Awuzie doesn’t appear to be in favor with Minter, and that doesn’t seem likely to change with Tampa returning. Amani Oruwariye looks like another name worth considering, especially with his size and length. At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, he fits the body type that worked for Minter in his Chargers zone scheme, and he has enough NFL experience and enough decent moments to at least merit a look.
The bigger question is whether the Ravens need to think even more aggressively. With all the money, draft capital and former first-round pedigree in this cornerback room, it’s fair to wonder if this is the roster’s most underachieving area, or simply its biggest need. Baltimore has the least cap space in the NFL, and there isn’t much wiggle room to add help without getting creative.
That could make subtraction part of the fix. Moving Marlon Humphrey’s salary to open up space wouldn’t be an outrageous idea if the team wants to add more at corner. The Chargers are 0-6, Minter knows their defensive backs well, and Baltimore and Los Angeles already completed a trade a year ago in which Minter turned benched first-round pick Odafe Oweh into a stud in LA.
Maybe he can pull off another move like that, this time on Baltimore’s side. But it may take money coming off the books first. As longtime NFL personnel man Pat Kirwan pointed out before the season, the Ravens ought to be able to run a cheaper secondary with this scheme and not be tied down by bloated $20 million contracts for supposed top man-coverage corners who aren’t taking the ball away.
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