Ravens CB Marcus Peters is No.53 on the NFL Network’s Top 100 Players of 2020 list

The former first-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs out of Washington and 2015 Defensive Rookie of the Year was the fifth Baltimore Raven to be revealed on the NFL Network’s Top 100 Players of 2020 list. He earned his third Pro Bowl bid, made his second career First-Team All-Pro squad, and returned to the Top 100 list after a one-year hiatus in 2019. Prior to that, he had made the list in each of his first three seasons from 2016 to 2018.

Baltimore acquired Marcus Peters from the Los Angeles Rams at the midseason trade deadline in exchange for the mere price of reserve linebacker Kenny Young and a fifth-round pick. That investment reinvigorated the Ravens secondary that had been missing the presence of a playmaking ball hawk in the backend since they had Hall of Famer Ed Reed at safety.

Peters loves and passion for the game are evident but what most people don’t see behind the boisterous personality and infectious confidence that borderlines cockiness at times is a true student of the game that is enthralled with every aspect of it and is an avid consumer of football knowledge.

“People don’t understand is like Marcus is a football junkie and he loves ball,” said teammate and right tackle Orlando Brown Jr. “He loves the history of the game, he loves coverages, he loves knowing defenses, he likes knowing routes schemes.”

His deep understanding of route concepts, recognition of offensive tendencies, and natural instincts in the passing games make him a nightmare for opposing offenses as a whole, not just quarterbacks. Peters’ sees the field and route patterns better than most safeties and his ability to lull signal-callers into a false sense of security by leading them to believe that they have a wide-open window or target to throw before breaking up or undercutting the intended pass for an interception make him one of a kind.

“He sees the game better really than any corner I’ve ever been with,” said teammate and fellow 2019 First Team All-Pro corner Marlon Humphrey. “Being around him, talking with him, and be like yo I see something here and he’s like I see everything.”

It didn’t take him long to make his presence known and establish himself in the Ravens secondary following his arrival. In his first game with the team, less than a week after being traded, he made the play that swung momentum in Baltimore’s favor in a Week Seven interconference matchup with the Seattle Seahawks. He jumped an out route thrown by Russell Wilson and returned it 70 yards to pay dirt, giving the Ravens their first lead of the game, of which they did not relinquish the rest of the day.

Peters continued to bring the juice that helped spark the turnaround of a Ravens’ secondary that had a rocky start to the season. He began to be popularly known by his nickname ‘MP [Marcus Peter] Juiceman’ for his playmaking prowess. He paired with Humphrey to make form the best cornerback tandem down the stretch last season. With a full offseason with Ravens, even if it was completely virtual, he and the rest of Baltimore’s secondary has the potential to be the most dominant backend in the league.

The fact that three of their starting defensive backs were voted to this year’s list by their peers means the rest of the league knows it too even if some of their rankings weren’t low enough considering the seasons that they’re coming off of and what they project to be going forward.

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