OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Training camp is still several weeks away, but the Ravens have already suffered their first significant injury of 2017.
Second-year cornerback Tavon Young suffered a season-ending knee injury in Thursday’s voluntary organized team activity. Head coach John Harbaugh did not know the extent of the damage immediately following practice, but the Ravens announced Thursday evening that Young had sustained a torn ACL.
The Temple product made an acrobatic interception during a drill and appeared to hurt his knee as he got up to run and made minimal contact with another player, collapsing to the ground and fumbling the ball in the process. Young put very little weight on his knee as he was helped off the field and taken inside.
The 2016 fourth-round pick was expected to serve as Baltimore’s slot corner in the nickel package after showing an impressive nose for the football and emerging as a starter as a rookie. General manager Ozzie Newsome bolstered the roster’s cornerback depth by signing free-agent veteran Brandon Carr and selecting Alabama’s Marlon Humphrey in the first round of the 2017 draft, but both are outside cornerbacks and not suited to play inside.
“As Ozzie says all the time, you need to build as much depth into your roster as you can,” Harbaugh said, “because injuries are going to happen.”
After Young was helped off the field midway through Thursday’s workout, second-year cornerback Maurice Canady played the nickel with the first-team defense and intercepted three passes. The 2016 sixth-round pick out of Virginia is viewed favorably by the organization, but he didn’t play a single defensive snap as a rookie and appeared in only four games before being placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
Even practicing in shorts on Thursday, Canady clearly made an impression with coaches, teammates, and media in attendance.
“He has slimmed up a little bit, but he has strengthened at the same time,” said Harbaugh of the 6-foot-1, 193-pound defensive back. “I just think he is moving really well, and he has a knack for the game. He has to prove it in games, but he is going to get a chance to do that, because he is earning that opportunity right now.”
Reserve safety Lardarius Webb could also be a factor as a slot cornerback despite moving from cornerback to safety late in the 2015 season. The 31-year-old was a longtime starter at cornerback and frequently move inside in the nickel package over the years.
Veteran Kyle Arrington also remains on the 90-man roster for now, but he has not returned to the field since sustaining a concussion last summer and is expected by many to eventually be released.
Despite a slight 5-foot-9, 177-pound frame, Young played in all 16 contests (11 starts) in 2016 and collected 53 tackles, two interceptions, and eight pass breakups. Pro Football Focus graded him as the 26th-best cornerback in the NFL last season while Bleacher Report’s NFL1000 project ranked him 72nd among corners.
Coming back stronger than ever, GOD got me, thanks for the prayers
— Tavon Young (@Tyoung_NL) June 1, 2017
