Ravens Star Ranked Top 10 In Position Rankings

It was a tale of two halves of the 2024 season for the Baltimore Ravens' defense. From Weeks 1-10, the Ravens had one of the worst defenses in the NFL. They ranked 27th in EPA per play in that time span, and 30th in EPA per dropback. However, from Weeks 11-18, the Ravens turned things completely around. They went from 27th in defensive EPA to first, and also skyrocketed from 30th in EPA against the pass to No. 1.

It's rare to see that kind of mid-season turnaround, but the Ravens were able to do it for a multitude of reasons - one of the most glaring being the play of Marlon Humphrey at nickel cornerback. Humphrey had one of the best years of his career, picking off a career-high six passes and earning an All-Pro nod - the second of his career and first since the 2019 season. Because of his play, Humphrey earned the No. 7 ranking on PFF's cornerback list.

"After battling injuries in 2023 and posting a career-low 63.2 PFF coverage grade, Humphrey enjoyed a mostly healthy 2024 season and posted an 81.0 PFF coverage grade, good for the second-best mark of his career," John Kosko writes. "He ranked fourth in PFF advanced coverage grade in 2024, and his 6.4% interceptions-per-target rate was a career high."

The Ravens made it to the divisional round of the playoffs, where they were eliminated by the Buffalo Bills, who then suffered another playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Should Baltimore want to get back to playing on conference championship Sunday, and eventually the Super Bowl, their defense will need to continue to play the way they did down the stretch in 2024 to complement Lamar Jackson and the offense.