Ravens' Nate Wiggins Asked to Shadow Rams Star WR

While All Pro veteran Marlon Humphrey is the Ravens' most accomplished cornerback, between injuries and inconsistent play, Wiggins has usurped him for the mantle of the team's top cornerback until proven otherwise. The 22-year-old proved himself again this past week with another lockdown performance in the team's 17-3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams by limiting the impact of a future Hall of Fame wide receiver.

According to Next Gen Stats , Wiggins shadowed six-time Pro Bowler Davante Adams on all 27 of his routes in the game and only allowed one reception of 8 receiving yards on 4 targets when the two of them were matched up. He played a key role in holding him to a season-low 39 receiving yards on 4 receptions over the course of the entire game.

Much to their own detriment at times, the Ravens don't usually have their perimeter corners follow specific receivers but rather stay on one side or the other. However, in the preparation leading up to this game, Wiggins implored his coaches to let him be the one to try to neutralize Adams, who is still one of the most savvy, naturally-gifted and well-rounded wideouts in the game.

"He came to us and said, 'I got No. 17 [Adams] this week, right?' [We said,] 'Yes, you want him?' [He said,] 'Yes sir'," Ravens senior defensive assistant and secondary coach Chuck Pagano said. "What we saw was this unbelievable sense of urgency, focus, detail – everything – because he wanted that challenge and accepted that challenge, because he's a prideful guy, a very prideful guy. He cares what he puts on tape. He cares about this organization and winning, so I loved what he did."

As impressive as Wiggins' performance was this past week, it wasn't flawless. Adams had a couple of balls go through his hands for drops on two of the targets that came with him in coverage. Wiggins also got called for a 30-yard defensive pass interference call that moved the ball into the red zone after he got physical with Adams down the field and didn't get his head around to locate it.

"He had some good downs, and he had some not-so-good downs," Wiggins said. "That's a really good wide receiver. [Adams] is going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, in my opinion, but Nate held his own. He did a nice job."

It is a little infuriating that it takes a player coming to the Ravens coaches and asking for the opportunity to travel with a specific wide receiver instead of them assigning individual matchups to set up their players for success a part of the game plan. Nonetheless, if they can continue utilizing their corners and other defensive backs in such a detailed manner, which resulted in one of the most potent and balanced offenses in the league putting up season-lows across the board, it'd only benefit them more.

As for Wiggins, he leads the Ravens in pass breakups with 4 and has their lone interception, which he nearly returned for his second career touchdown. Among all cornerbacks who have played at 80% or more of their team's total defensive snaps, he has Pro Football Focus' 10th-highest grade, ahead of reigning Defensive Player of the Year Pat Surtain II of the Denver Broncos.

With more tough individual matchups on the horizon coming back from the bye such as Justin Jefferson in Week 10, Jerry Juedy again in Week 11, two games against Ja'Marr and Tee Higgins in Weeks 13 and 15 with one of two matchups with D.K. Metcalf wedged in between, there will be plenty more opportunities to show he has arrived as one of the league's elite at his position.

"Everybody is looking to have a guy like Nate, a true No. 1 corner," Pagano said. "When you face guys like Adams or whoever – we're going to face some great ones coming up – the guy is willing, No. 1, and No. 2, he's got the capability, the athleticism and the skillset to go do it."