Where Does 'Fearless' Ar’Darius Washington Fit Into Ravens Plans?
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Ravens pounced when TCU safety Ar’Darius Washington did not get selected in this year's NFL draft.
Baltimore moved quickly to add Washington as an undrafted free agent.
The question is where Washington will fit into the Ravens system?
He is undersized at 5-foot-8, 176 pounds.
Washington doesn't have blazing speed.
However, he is a solid, tough player that has a nose for the ball and the Ravens are confident they'll find the best role for him.
"Is he big enough to be a safety? I don’t know. Is he fast enough to be a corner? I don’t know. Is he a good football player? Yes. Is he instinctive? Yes. Does he make plays? Yes," Ravens director of college scouting Joe Hortiz said. "Alright, well, he’s a good football player. Let’s get him here and see what he is. Frankly, that’s how we evaluated him as a draft pick – a potential draft pick – and he was a potential draft pick for us. We just didn’t draft him, [but] that doesn’t mean we didn’t have draftable grades on him. Our scouts really liked him. Everyone, to a man, talked about how tough he was."
Some scouts have called Washington this year's best-undrafted player. In 2019, Washington was ranked by Pro Football Focus as the nation's second-highest graded safety, behind only teammate Trevon Moehrig. He was named the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year.
Being undersized may have hurt his draft stock, but the Ravens didn't draft a safety and Washington could make the roster as a backup.
"Heck, I think it was the Texas game [when] he knocked himself out coming up on a tackle," Hortiz said. "I think in two of the games I watched with him, he actually hurt himself, in two separate games, tackling. So, he’s fearless, unafraid. They use him as a safety, but they put him in some nickel-type roles. So, yes, we were excited to get him, as we were with a bunch of our free agents after the draft. [Assistant director of college & pro personnel] Mark Azevedo does an awesome job coordinating it and running it with the coaches, and we feel like we got some guys who are going to compete for roster spots or positions on the practice squad.
"Again, we feel really good about our team, and I think we mentioned how deep we are, so it’s going to be a tough ‘nut to crack,’ so to speak, but we feel like we got the right types of guys to come in and compete for it.”
