Ravens safety suffers heartbreaking Achilles injury during conditioning

The Baltimore Ravens are still trying to get over the hump and win a Super Bowl in the Lamar Jackson era, but they have continuously flamed out in the playoffs in recent years. Heading into this offseason, Baltimore had just a few holes to fill to make up the ground with the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC.

One of the Ravens’ weaker position groups last season was the secondary. Baltimore struggled against the pass for the early part of the 2024 season before moving Kyle Hamilton back to free safety turned the season around in some ways. Unfortunately, another one of the key pieces in that turnaround suffered a devastating injury on Tuesday.

Ar’Darius Washington, who emerged as a key contributor and had a big role for the Ravens, tore his Achilles during conditioning on Tuesday and will likely miss the entire 2025 season, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

“Sources: Ravens safety Ar’Darius Washington, who was expected to play a key role in Baltimore’s defense next season, has torn his Achilles, the MRI has confirmed,” Rapoport reported on X, formerly Twitter. “The injury, which occurred during conditioning, will cause him to miss most or all of the 2025 season.”

This injury really hurts the Ravens’ depth in the secondary, which was already pretty thin to begin with. The pressure at the second safety spot will now fall on former Georgia star Malaki Starks, who was selected by Baltimore with the No. 27 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft.

Starks now has very little room for growing pains, which are sure to come. He will have to be up to speed from the very start of the season in the back end next to Hamilton, as the Ravens don’t have many reliable options to go to at safety now with Washington out.

Washington played in all 17 games during the regular season in 2024 and finished the year with 64 tackles and two interceptions, so Starks has big shoes to fill as a rookie. He is a free safety, which should allow Hamilton to move back into the box. However, losing a veteran player who is familiar with Baltimore’s system is a massive blow for the Ravens before camp even gets underway.