Ravens' Defensive Success Will Rely on One Thing

There's a strong belief that the Baltimore Ravens are going to field one of the best defenses in the NFL this season. However, there's one thing the unit must do to reach those expectations.

Clifton Brown of baltimoreravens.com believes the Ravens defense, specifically the secondary, must stay healthy to reach its full potential in 2025.

"The health of Baltimore's secondary will be something to watch throughout training camp and preseason," Brown writes. "[Chidobe] Awuzie was limited to eight games in both 2022 and '24, while [Jaire] Alexander played just seven games in each of the last two seasons. Younger players may have an opportunity to step forward. Second-year corner T.J. Tampa has length and an athletic skill set, which could earn him rotational playing time with a strong camp. He also dealt with injuries during his rookie season."

It's difficult to argue against the Ravens having the league's best secondary when healthy, but that has been a big question for the past several years.

The offseason additions of Alexander and Awuzie are also coming to Baltimore with major injury concerns from the last couple of seasons.

Alexander has played in just seven games in each of the past two seasons with the Green Bay Packers while Awuzie only appeared in eight games for the Tennessee Titans in 2024.

The Ravens also already lost safety Ar’Darius Washington, who suffered a torn Achilles in May, for most, if not all, of the 2025 season. That has paved the way for safety Malaki Starks, the No. 27 overall pick, to start as a rookie.

It could spell trouble for Baltimore if it suffers another loss at the position with second-year safeties Sanoussi Kane and Beau Brade as the next men up.

However, Ravens veteran cornerback Marlon Humphrey remains confident the group will be just fine.

"A quote that's never been said and probably will never be said in NFL history is, 'We've got too many corners that can cover,' so I think that's a great problem to have," he said.

Humphrey better hope he didn't just jinx Baltimore's secondary, which is entering training camp mostly healthy.