Ravens Second-Year CB Named Breakout Candidate

By all accounts, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins was a successful one. The former Clemson Tigers star broke up 13 passes, had a memorable pick-six in the regular season finale and allowed a passer rating of just 66.7 when targeted, a very solid body of work.

Of course, there's still room for improvement. The 21-year-old Wiggins is the Ravens' future at cornerback, and if he develops as expected, he could become one of the league's best as well.

That could come as soon as this year, as Pro Football Focus named Wiggins to its all-breakout team.

"As the Ravens tweaked their secondary in the middle of 2024, Wiggins also seemed to hit his stride later in his first year," PFF's Bradley Locker wrote. "Now, the sophomore corner could make a name for himself in 2025. From Week 7 onward, Wiggins earned a 69.4-plus PFF coverage grade in six of 12 contests. Throughout the broader season, the former Clemson Tiger ranked in the 70th percentile in both PFF coverage grade at outside cornerback (70.9) and in forced incompletion rate (12.7%)."

"With Brandon Stephens now a Jet, Wiggins should net a full year of starting outside next to Marlon Humphrey and Kyle Hamilton. Given how promising the early results were for Wiggins, his potential is high, even as early as this season."

Wiggins will definitely have a greater workload in 2025 following Stephens' departure. In fact, he's now the Ravens' top outside corner with Humphrey now playing almost entirely in the slot, so he'll be going up against the opposing team's top wideout more often than not.

It's shaping up to be a big season for the young corner, but he seems up to the task.

"He's more locked in on his fundamentals and technique on a more consistent basis," defensive coordinator Zach Orr said. "Last year, I felt like he got to that point towards the middle end of the season, but last year, he was just running like a chicken with his head cut off, trying to figure out what to do."

"Now, he understands the system. He understands the defense. He's been in the league for a year, so he understands formations from offenses, so now, he can really just hone in on his technique. Man, that guy right there, [if] he takes his technique to another level on a consistent basis, the sky is the limit for him."