For the second consecutive season, cornerback Tavon Young will not be in a Baltimore Ravens uniform and helmet against the Kansas City Chiefs. Young suffered a knee injury in Week 2 against the Houston Texans that is believed to be season-ending. It’s a huge blow to Baltimore’s secondary but one it’s used to overcoming.
Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey was quick to note just how big of a loss Young’s injury is to the defense.
“Losing ‘Tay’ [Tavon Young] was rough,” Humphrey said Wednesday. “We haven’t gone on the field yet to see what adjustments exactly we’re going to make. We’re still trying to figure out some of the kinks and the different things without having ‘Tay,’ but Tavon is not really a guy you can really replace. We call him a ‘Pitbull,’ just because he’s small, but he has a big bite.”
When healthy, Young is one of the better slot defenders in the league. It’s the reason why Eric DeCosta gave Young a three-year contract extension as one of his first moves as the new general manager after replacing Ozzie Newsome. At the time, Young’s extension made him the highest-paid slot cornerback in the league, something that was quickly surpassed later that offseason.
However, that gamble hasn’t really paid off for the Ravens with Young missing all of the 2019 season due to a neck injury and slated to miss 14 regular-season games this season with a knee injury. In total, Young will have missed 47-of-80 games due to injury over five years by the end of this season if he heads to injured reserve.
Baltimore overcame Young’s absence last season by moving Humphrey to the slot and adding Marcus Peters via a trade with the Los Angeles Rams. Though Humphrey was playing out of position, he still impressed enough to earn his first Pro Bowl nomination. This season, defensive coordinator Don Martindale could choose to rotate a few players into the slot depending on matchups. At least that’s what Humphrey pointed to.
“Like I said, we haven’t figured out the gameplan yet, but I’ll be in there. I think some other guys will be in there,” Humphrey continued. “It’ll be rotating all around, so I’ll be outside, I’ll be inside. You just never know who’s going to be in there. It just depends on the formation, who they have in, and what package the coaches feel like is best once it all gets settled down and we finish up the gameplan.”
That would fit with what our expectations were following Young’s injury. Third-year cornerback Anthony Averett is likely to get a significant boost to his snap count, being the primary replacement. But if the Ravens face a group of larger receivers, it might make sense to slide Jimmy Smith inside instead. Of course, Baltimore has safeties that could come down into that role as well, with Nigel Warrior and Geno Stone having the speed to play more coverage. With Martindale at the helm of this defense, expecting the unexpected might just be the wisest thing, and as we’ve seen already this season, outside linebacker Matthew Judon has dropped back into coverage a bunch.
The best thing would be having Young starting in the slot. But with some creativity and a wealth of talent in the secondary, the Ravens can call on everyone to step up and make it work.
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