Ravens Secondary Still Facing Big Questions

One of the Baltimore Ravens' top priorities this offseason was improving their secondary, and for the most part, they've succeeded.

At cornerback, the Ravens added veteran free agent Chidobe Awuzie, who gives them a much-needed third starter at the position. The big addition came at safety, however, as the Ravens drafted former Georgia star Malaki Starks to pair with All-Pro Kyle Hamilton.

Even with these additions and more, though, there's still some questions to answer in the secondary. In fact, Pro Football Focus' Bradley Locker believes it's the biggest question facing the Ravens as a whole, especially after the loss of breakout safety Ar'Darius Washington.

"On the heels of yet another AFC divisional-round appearance, the Ravens were relatively scant in their offseason acquisitions," Locker wrote. "Still, a fair amount of turnover occurred in a secondary that was wide-ranging in its play during last year."

"Ar’Darius Washington (86.1 PFF coverage grade) suffered a season-ending Achilles tear during training, and his insertion into the Ravens’ starting lineup allowed for greater flexibility — and fostered better results, with Baltimore sitting third in EPA per play from Week 8 onward. In Washington’s place will likely be first-round pick Malaki Starks (78.3 PFF overall grade), though the Georgia product is more of a chess piece and less of a true center fielder. Meanwhile, at cornerback, the health and play of Chidobe Awuzie (58.4 PFF coverage grade on 373 total snaps) next to Marlon Humphrey (81.0 PFF coverage grade) and Nate Wiggins (69.0 PFF coverage grade) is also critical."

The Ravens' secondary was downright awful at the start of last season, allowing nearly 300 passing yards per game at one point. They flipped a switch halfwauy through the season, around the same time Washington entered the starting lineup, and actually became one of the league's best down the stretch.

Now that they've lost Washington for the year, the Ravens will have to answer the question of whether or not they can keep up this level of play without him.