When looking back at any number of assessments of the Ravens’ positional depth entering training camp, cornerback was at the top of the list.
The loss of two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey to a torn pectoral tendon in Sunday’s loss at Pittsburgh only adds to the pain of what Baltimore already lost before the 2021 regular season even began. What’s now left in the December starting lineup is barely recognizable with the resilient Ravens now missing Humphrey and three-time Pro Bowl selection Marcus Peters at cornerback as well as starting safety DeShon Elliott for the remainder of the season. And young defensive backs already on injured reserve such as Khalil Dorsey, Ar’Darius Washington, and Iman Marshall could have been useful depth at this point in the season.
Humphrey may not have been enjoying his best season by the lofty standards that made him one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks over the last few years, but the Ravens already rank 31st in passing yards allowed per game, 30th in yards per pass attempt allowed, 28th in interceptions, and 27th in pass defense efficiency with the fifth-year corner playing all but a few snaps. In other words, it’s sobering to envision a stretch run without him, especially as dates with Green Bay, Cincinnati, and the Los Angeles Rams near.
Humphrey joins Peters and left tackle Ronnie Stanley as the three highest-paid players on the team — in terms of average annual value — who are also on IR, which is far from ideal for any team’s Super Bowl hopes. But head coach John Harbaugh wasn’t about to dwell on how much the Ravens will miss their best defensive player when asked on Monday.
“I don’t have the gauge on that,” Harbaugh said. “We’d prefer to have him for sure, but we’ll go on with the guys we have. We have really good players who can step in and play. We’ll be ready to go.”
The Ravens will likely turn to the combination of second-year cornerback Chris Westry — who was signed to a reserve-future deal last January — and the 33-year-old Jimmy Smith to increase their workload the rest of the way, but there’s simply no replacing Humphrey’s playmaking ability and versatility. Though playing primarily on the outside for the first time since 2018 with the healthy return of nickel corner Tavon Young this season, Humphrey was still charted by Pro Football Focus as playing just over 200 snaps in the slot, a reflection of the various ways defensive coordinator Wink Martindale deploys the 2017 first-round pick out of Alabama on a weekly basis. While season-long starter Anthony Averett, Westry, and Smith still give Baltimore options on the outside — even as they’ve missed a combined 14 games with injuries themselves this season — Humphrey’s absence leaves the Ravens without a clear backup at the slot, meaning Martindale could be forced to move Brandon Stephens to nickel corner and insert Geno Stone at safety in the event of an injury to Young.
Other cornerbacks currently on the 53-man roster and practice squad include Kevon Seymour, Robert Jackson, Mazzi Wilkins, and Kevin Toliver, who have eight combined starts in the NFL.
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“We’ll work through the personnel. There are personnel groups, who you put where, what coverages, what personnel groups,” Harbaugh said. “We have guys, [and] we’ll work through that during the course of the week. Some of it is who you play, what the matchups are. We’ll figure all of that out.”
Unfortunately, these are options indicative of a secondary simply trying to survive rather than help lead the Ravens to the Super Bowl, which was the objective when general manager Eric DeCosta put so many resources into the back end of the defense over the last several years. It’s also a reminder of why former general manager and longtime Ravens executive Ozzie Newsome always said you can never have enough cornerbacks.
Some fans will think back to 2007 when the likes of Willie Gaston and Ronnie Prude were playing cornerback as the Ravens played out the string or 2014 when Rashaan Melvin went from the Miami practice squad in November to starting for Baltimore in the postseason. Stories such as what the Ravens now face in their secondary don’t often have happy endings.
But with so many notable players already on IR all season and still managing to hold first place in the AFC North at 8-4, the Ravens are used to the challenge and will try to endure anyway.
