We don’t know how the 2019 season will turn out for the Baltimore Ravens. But we do know that Baltimore, assuming that they will stay healthy on defense, will have one of the best, if not the best secondary in the NFL.
Rarely could a football team say they lost a Pro Bowl free safety like former Raven Eric Weddle and ultimately ended up upgrading in free agency by signing Earl Thomas. It’s not often that you can say a No. 5 ranked pass defense from the season prior got significantly better.
But Baltimore did just that.
Given the way the NFL is set up for passing offenses to succeed, Ravens coach John Harbaugh knows that a lot of games can be won and lost through the air.
“It’s really important to have corners and safeties,” Harbaugh said during last week’s NFL owners’ meetings. “We need corners that can play man-to-man coverage, along with all the things we do because we’re not just a man team.”
“We play a variety of coverages, we are very multiple, we do a lot after the snap and after the play is called. We need people that can adjust and talk and think…It’s important for us to have a good secondary.”
While Baltimore doesn’t have an explosive offense, they understand that playing defense is their calling card and will decide a lot of games, especially in the AFC North.
In their division, the Ravens have to deal twice a year each with Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and Cleveland Browns wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry.
All of those receivers are dangerous. But luckily for Baltimore, they have cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey, Brandon Carr, Jimmy Smith and Tavon Young to even out the playing field.
When you factor in Thomas and Tony Jefferson at free safety and strong safety, respectively, for the Ravens, their secondary is a unit that will make every single one of their opponents in 2019 throw the football with caution.
