Will the Ravens bring in reinforcements at cornerback after losing Tavon Young?

Heading into training camp this year after an unusual offseason courtesy of COVID-19, the Baltimore Ravens boasted arguably the best and certainly the deepest secondary in terms of top to bottom talent in the entire NFL. They were stacked at both safety and cornerback with versatile and gifted players that would start on just about any other team in the league.

However, they were dealt a pair of significant blows in the month of August when they lost second-year corner, Iman Marshal, for the year with a torn ACL, and a few weeks later they terminated the contract of seven-time Pro Bowl safety Earl Thomas for conduct detrimental.

While those two losses appeared concerning at the time since Marshal was slated to provide quality depth and play a lot on special teams and Thomas is a future Hall of Famer with productive years still left in the tank, Baltimore’s backend has fared just fine and has actually been the backbone of the defense during their 2-0 start.

The Ravens still have a pair of First Team All-Pros at cornerback with Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters who are looking like the top cover man tandem in the league so far. The safety positions appear to be in good hands with Chuck Clark returning to call the shots on defense and fellow former late-round draft pick turned starter DeShon Elliott who has done a great job of replacing Thomas in the lineup since being elevated to full-time starter status.

Unfortunately, Sunday’s big win over the Houston Texans in Week Two came at a bit of cost that will shake out how the secondary looks and performs going forward for the rest of the season. Baltimore’s star nickel corner Tavon Young went down early in the game, did not return and on Monday Head Coach John Harbaugh officially confirmed what they feared was the worst he had to be helped off the field.

Young suffered a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the year after he undergoes season-ending surgery to repair the damaged ligament. It marks the third season-ending injury of his five-year career and the second in consecutive seasons.

“It’s only an ACL, so that’s a positive,” Harbaugh said. “He’ll have surgery and go into rehab. He’ll fight his way back, there’s no question about it. Our hearts go out to him on that. We’ll be supporting him all the way.”

While it’s a good thing that Young didn’t suffer any further damage to his knee, the damage to the Ravens secondary that has happened in a little over a month is irreversible. His absence will send a ripple effect through the entire defense, not just in the backend because he freed up other members of the secondary to do what they do best, mainly Humphrey staying outside, and he also brought a playmaking element to the nickel spot that no other player on the roster could.

So where do the Ravens go from here you might be asking?

The cliché answer is “Next man up” which is the approach that the team has been sticking with lately but with Young out for the year, Baltimore only has four healthy cornerbacks currently on the active roster. Since modern offenses routinely rollout multi-receiver sets that could include up to five pass catchers spread out across the offensive formation, they’d be a man short of a band if they intended to keep both of their safeties back.

Harbaugh expressed his confidence on third-year pro Anthony Averett’s ability to step up in an expanded role on defense during his Monday press conference and veteran Jimmy Smith will likely be the first man up at outside corner when Humphrey moves into the slot to handle nickel duties as he did against the Texans and for most of last season.

However, only having four true corners and banking on all of them to stay healthy and fresh every week going forward is not smart business. The Ravens have a pair of corners on their 16-man practice squad roster in undrafted rookie Khalil Dorsey and veteran Terrell Bonds. They are both in the elk of nickel corners but neither would provide an upgrade over what Humphrey brings as the top option to keep taking the bulk of snaps in the slot.

Averett has done an admirable job in spot duty during his first two years in the league and even started three games last season. He played 23 of a possible 59 snaps on defense against the Texans and graded out fine according to Harbaugh, although the majority spectators at home who aren’t privy to the coaches’ tape would sternly disagree with the head coach’s assessment of his performance in coverage.

The Ravens could just promote either Dorsey of Bonds and call it a day or bring back undrafted rookie Josh Nurse who spent and made plays in training camp with the Ravens by signing him off the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad. The non-familiar option would be to bring in a veteran free agent with plenty of starting experience of which there is currently a plethora of at the moment but may not be for long considering the recent rash of injuries that have been sweeping the league in the first two weeks of the regular season.

The top options on the open market as it stands right now include former first-round picks Prince Amukamara and Morris Claiborne, fifth-year pro Javien Elliott, 11-year pro Tramaine Brock, and 14-year vet Tramon Williams. Elliott is the youngest of the bunch but only has 10 career starts. If they want a more experienced insurance policy to add some depth to the position, they’d go with one of the others listed who have close to or over a decade starting experience under their respective belts.

Whether they promote someone from the practice squad, sign a familiar of someone else’s, or brings in an unfamiliar off the streets, one thing is for certain and that is the Ravens will not go into their primetime matchup with the defending Superbowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and their strong-armed all-world quarterback Patrick Mahomes and track-team of offensive skill players shorthanded at the position he will try to exhaust and pick apart the most.

Something will be done to address the cornerback depth or lack thereof. Only time will tell who that might be or how that might happen.

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