The Baltimore Ravens seemed to come out of nowhere yesterday in acquiring former first-round draft pick, cornerback Marcus Peters, from the Los Angeles Rams, getting him for a fifth-round pick and second-year inside linebacker Kenny Young. That’s a relatively low price, even considering that Peters will be an unrestricted free agent 10 games from now.
It was made obvious why the price was fairly low soon after, as the Rams then turned around and made a big trade for Jalen Ramsey with the Jacksonville Jaguars, dealing a pair of first-round picks and a fourth-round pick in exchange for the cornerback many consider to be the best in the game right now.
The Ravens came into this offseason feeling as though they had one of the deepest secondaries in the NFL, so what happened? Well, for one thing, injuries happened. Starting cornerback Jimmy Smith has, as is annual tradition, been sidelined recently due to injury, while nickel starter Tavon Young was already lost for the season a while ago.
While their top cornerback, Marlon Humphrey, has been inconsistent, they have still had Brandon Carr available to them, while others like Maurice Canady and Anthony Averett have contributed as well. At the back end, however, they also recently lost Tony Jefferson for the season with a knee injury, which he suffered against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With Peters coming in and obviously starting alongside Humphrey, the question arises about how this affects the rest of the group. Where will Smith play when he comes back? The Ravens experimented with using Carr at safety in the offseason. Could they work him in there in the wake of Jefferson’s injury?
Baltimore currently sits at 4-2 after rebounding from a short skid to win their last two games, victories over the Steelers (in overtime) and the Cincinnati Bengals, who are now 0-6 on the season, but they have a rough stretch coming up ahead that will really tell us a lot more about who they are in 2019.
They will play the Seattle Seahawks on the road this Sunday. After a bye week, they get the New England Patriots, who heading into Week Seven are undefeated. They get the Bengals again after that, but then it’s the Houston Texans, the Rams, and the San Francisco 49ers.
The Steelers lost to the Seahawks, Patriots, and 49ers, and between the three of them, they have lost just one game so far this season. The Ravens would be very fortunate to come out of that trio of games with a 2-1 record. And if they do, then it’s probably time to take them seriously.
