OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Nate Wiggins and Marlon Humphrey weren’t expected to play in Saturday’s preseason opener anyway, but injury scares this week have put the Ravens’ outside cornerback depth under a brighter spotlight.
Is there enough to be confident that head coach Jesse Minter’s defense can thrive over a full season?
It’s not as though the top three of Wiggins, Humphrey, and Chidobe Awuzie are short on credentials. The upside that Wiggins brings as a 2024 first-round pick still a couple weeks shy of his 23rd birthday makes him one of the most critical players on the entire roster, which is what made the sight of him being carted off the field with a leg injury earlier this week all the more unnerving. Humphrey, 30, is a four-time Pro Bowl selection with valuable inside-outside versatility, but he is coming off the worst season of his career and has been hindered by injuries more frequently over the last few years. Awuzie was arguably Baltimore’s most consistent corner last season and has made 86 starts over his nine-year NFL career, but the oft-injured 31-year-old has played in more than eight games just three times in the last six seasons, which makes him a better fit as the third or fourth outside corner on the depth chart. Neither Humphrey nor Awuzie is under contract beyond 2026.
In other words, one can certainly understand Ravens fans being uneasy after the news of Wiggins’ injury on Tuesday and Humphrey’s early exit from Wednesday’s practice.
“I expect those guys — and prayers up for those guys — that they can be back as soon as possible, but we have a lot of good ones,” defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said. “I think T.J. Tampa has had a tremendous camp. It’s good to see [Bilhal Kone] back out there making plays. ‘Chido’ — let’s not forget him. There are a bunch of guys I think that could step in if needed. But yes, we would love to have those guys out there. Again, thoughts and prayers that they get back as fast as they can.”
One would expect the Ravens to hold out Awuzie in addition to Wiggins and Humphrey against Philadelphia on Saturday night, which will provide ample opportunities for Tampa, Kone, and others to show that the depth chart is in better shape than many believe. A 2024 fourth-round pick who had a sizable role on special teams last year, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Tampa has just 165 career defensive snaps under his belt, so he’ll be under the microscope to prove that general manager Eric DeCosta doesn’t need to add a more experienced depth piece to the mix between now and the Sept. 13 opener in Indianapolis.
A 2025 sixth-round pick who suffered a season-ending knee injury last August, Kone has flashed his ability since beginning to take full-team reps, but the Western Michigan product has missed a ton of valuable development time in addition to coming back from a major injury. The same goes for fellow 2025 sixth-round pick Robert Longerbeam, who missed his entire rookie year with a knee injury during training camp. After spending his entire rookie year on the practice squad, former undrafted free agent Marquise Robinson will also try to make a strong impression over the next couple weeks.
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The Ravens have really liked what they’ve seen from second-year cornerback Keyon Martin and fifth-round rookie Chandler Rivers, but they are smaller defensive backs and better fits as nickel depth behind All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton, who is expected to take the lion’s share of the slot snaps in Minter’s frequent three-safety alignments.
The veteran sleeper to watch this summer could be Amani Oruwariye, who spent most of last season on Baltimore’s practice squad. The 30-year-old was a full-time starter with Detroit from 2020 through the first half of 2022 and has quietly had a good start to the summer.
The best-case scenario for the Ravens is clear. With Wiggins not expected to miss too much time with the injury, this is the season for him to cement himself as the top cornerback moving forward. Baltimore needs at least one more productive season from Humphrey and Awuzie, but given their age and injury history, Tampa or at least one of the other aforementioned names needs to emerge as trustworthy depth for 2026 and beyond.
Saturday will provide the next opportunity to see if someone from that next tier of outside corners is ready to step up.
