The Ravens had more significant defensive needs than an outside cornerback. Their pass rush has been nonexistent for much of the season. In Sunday’s victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, they started two inside linebackers who they signed off the street two weeks ago. They’ve put three safeties on injured reserve this month alone.
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But general manager Eric DeCosta isn’t in a position to be discriminant. The Ravens defense, which has had breakdowns at all three levels despite the team’s 4-2 start, needed help. More than anything, it needed more guys who were capable of making big plays.
Enter Marcus Peters, the high-risk, high-reward cornerback whom DeCosta acquired Tuesday from the Los Angeles Rams for reserve inside linebacker Kenny Young and a 2020 fifth-round pick.
There are plenty of criticisms about Peters’ game. He gets caught freelancing too much and gives up too many big plays. He’s a reluctant tackler. He’s undisciplined and volatile.
The Ravens know what they’re getting, or at least they should. Peters’ reputation is well documented. But there’s been one constant with him throughout his five-year career. He’s going to make his share of plays.
In 67 career NFL games, Peters has 24 interceptions, five forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and five defensive touchdowns. Since he entered the NFL as a first-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs’ in 2015, Peters has eight more interceptions than any other player in the NFL. That includes two this year.
The Ravens surely can find a spot for a player who is looking not only to take the ball away but also to score after doing so. They can certainly deal with the periodic breakdown or guess gone wrong if Peters gets his hands on the ball in a key spot and changes the momentum of the game. The Ravens don’t currently have enough defensive players who do that.
With two interceptions and two forced fumbles, including one that led to Justin Tucker’s game-winning overtime field goal in Pittsburgh, Marlon Humphrey is beginning to develop a reputation as a ballhawk. Veteran safety Earl Thomas has a big-play track record, even if Ravens fans haven’t seen much evidence of it yet. Matthew Judon is a solid pass-rusher. But who else can the Ravens count on defensively to make a big play when the situation demands it?
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This isn’t your grandfather’s Ravens defense. It lacks the talent and personnel to suffocate teams for 60 minutes and dominate the game. Injuries, especially on the back end, have taken a toll, and the front office’s failure to adequately replace several key veterans it lost from last year’s top-ranked defense has been problematic.
Barring a major addition or two — more on that later — it would be quite optimistic to think the Ravens defense is going to suddenly shut down or even significantly limit quality offenses. Sure, Don “Wink” Martindale’s group should get better, but as much as this probably will offend Ravens fans, who have been annually spoiled by shutdown defenses, this year’s version is more suited to be a bend-but-don’t-break group, rather than one capable of imposing its will. They’re going to give up yards and points, and there will be times when holding teams to three rather than seven will seem like a moral victory. Turnovers will be a boon.
Nobody from the Ravens will come out and say that. The players and coaches understand the standard of defensive football in Baltimore and accept that responsibility, as they should. However, they know what they have, too. When the Ravens played the Pittsburgh Steelers two weeks ago, they faced a defense with eight first-round picks on it. The Ravens? They sent out a starting group of four former undrafted free agents and four other players taken in the fifth round or later.
Just as the Ravens have rebuilt their offense through the past two drafts, adding Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews, Hayden Hurst, Orlando Brown Jr., Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin and Justice Hill, DeCosta will have to do that defensively in the near future. But he still had to do something in the present with his team nursing a two-game lead in the vulnerable AFC North, a defense trying to patch some steady leaks and an offense that has been really good at times and has the potential to be better.
With the Rams looking to create room for Jalen Ramsey, whom they acquired late Tuesday in a blockbuster trade with Jacksonville, Peters was readily available, and the cost was reasonably cheap. Young, a 2018 fourth-round pick, had fallen out of favor with the Ravens coaching staff after he started three games early in the season. He was a healthy scratch in Pittsburgh, and then last weekend he didn’t play a single defensive snap, as Josh Bynes and L.J. Fort, two recent signings, got the start.
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The Ravens abhor trading draft picks, but they had an extra fifth-rounder to play with after they traded kicker Kaare Vedvik to the Minnesota Vikings this summer. It wasn’t a steep price to pay for a player with Peters’ ability.
Peters, 26, may or may not be a future piece. He’s a free agent at the end of the year. The best-case scenario for the Ravens is he plays good football over the next 2 1/2 months and they sign him to an extension, or he gets a big deal elsewhere and they get a pretty good compensatory pick for his short-term stay. The worst case is he doesn’t play well and the Ravens limit his role and then let him walk in the offseason. If the latter occurs, he still could factor in the compensatory formula for them.
Peters is expected to arrive in Baltimore at some point on Wednesday. The Ravens will evaluate him over the next couple of days, and if he’s comfortable enough, he has a chance to play Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. With Tavon Young already out for the season and fellow corners Jimmy Smith and Maurice Canady dealing with injuries, the Ravens might need him to.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh, Martindale and secondary coach Chris Hewitt will eventually have to figure out how to best use Humphrey, Peters, Brandon Carr and Smith, when Smith ultimately returns. Humphrey is certainly not going to come off the field. But finding snaps for quality players is something Harbaugh will likely cite as a good problem to have.
DeCosta’s job certainly isn’t done before the Oct. 29 trade deadline. Pass-rushing help appears to be a necessity if the Ravens are going to make a legitimate run to the postseason. It isn’t clear, however, who is available at a reasonable price.
Peters was, and DeCosta was wise to make the move. Peters doesn’t satisfy one of the team’s biggest needs, but he does bring something the Ravens don’t have enough of: big-play ability.
(Photo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)