Baltimore Ravens: Bad Time for a Depleted Secondary

The Baltimore Ravens are digging so deep into their depth chart to find cornerbacks I’m expecting a call soon for tryouts. Really, the situation is bad enough that Jimmy Smith will possibly be missed more than Joe Flacco or Terrell Suggs would were they injured (knock on wood). And with the Ravens’ pass rush being so good, it’s like we get to have our cake, but we do not get to eat it too.

The Ravens’ best corner, Jimmy Smith, left the game against Cincy with a sprained foot. Although he’s expected to return in a few weeks, the void in the Ravens’ defense is quite clear. The Ravens are susceptible to giving up the deep ball.

I can’t say it enough, “In Ozzie we trust.” Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome’s philosophy is “You can never have too many cornerbacks” but the staggering amount of injuries to players has left the Ravens playing with the thinnest possible margin of error in the secondary.

“Next man up” is the name of the game the Ravens are playing. With Smith down, the Ravens are down to Lardarius Webb, Chykie Brown, and Dominique Franks left to play the position. Webb didn’t even play until November, Brown has hardly seen any time in his career, and Franks was already cut once before by the team.

Don’t be surprised to find some safeties like Matt Elam, Terrence Brooks and Anthony Levine being rotated into the position. Jimmy, we’re anxiously awaiting your return.

To make matters worse, Baltimore travels to Pittsburgh Sunday to face easily one of the best receiving corps in football in Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton. It’s a game both teams sorely need. Baltimore can’t withstand back-to-back road losses against division opponents, and the Steelers can ill-afford getting swept by the Ravens in their season series.

Going forward, the Ravens are not starting the second half of this season off strong. The health of the Ravens’ secondary is something every fan should pay close attention to as they await Jimmy Smith’s return.