Ravens' Nate Wiggins' Old Position Created Elite Ball Skills

The job of a defensive back is a thankless one. Much like positions alongside both lines, their job is to help out and prevent damage in supporting roles, and any reactionary job will make any cornerback prone to get burned a few times. A stopper's results will get them paid, but their process will be what sets them apart in the long-term.

The Baltimore Ravens have nearly a full decade riding Marlon Humphrey to that sort of year-in success in their backfield, with the veteran defender holding top assignments down to the tune of four Pro Bowl appearances and multiple First Team All-Pro nods. But as he's gotten older, the Ravens have started requiring new voices to step up and bridge the gap between generations.

That's where Nate Wiggins comes in. The former first-round pick is delivering on all of the potential that his team saw in him in the 2024 NFL Draft, leveraging his combination as a former physical receiver into one of the premier route-mirrorers in the game.

Baltimore Ravens Cornerback Nate Wiggins — Dec 7, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins (2) runs onto the field before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Wiggins' Physical Advantages

That niche skill is what's made him special, speedy enough to hang with just about any noteworthy pass-catcher around and apprehensive to the point of correctly anticipating where his assignment intends to find open space.

"I rely on my speed a lot, and I played receiver all through high school so I feel like I know a lot of tells about what the receiver's doing before they do it," he said in an interview with On SI. "Not a lot of people can run past me, and it's not a lot of good quarterbacks who can put the ball [there], so I'd rather get beat over than let anyone beat me under.

I got to talk to Nate Wiggins today about his advocacy partnership with My Cause, My Cleats, but couldn’t resist a few questions about his play. I asked him about how he prepares to mirror routes, to which he credited his underrated physicality background as a receiver. pic.twitter.com/P10CQTCZf2
— Henry J. Brown (@henryjbr_sports) December 8, 2025

He's spent his sophomore season demonstrating those instincts on a weekly basis, locking in that aforementioned stop against the New York Jets with his focus remaining a hinderance for the passer. Wiggins doesn't need to know where the ball if he knows exactly what his man's planning, reading a lot more than a wideout's eyes.

Nate Wiggins has all the confidence in the world in his abilities.

(4th & 2) Knows he has the recovery speed if he’s attacked over the top so he aggressively mirrors this quick route from a trail technique. pic.twitter.com/Qf4yq5rCig
— Chris Cooper (@ChrisCooper_NFL) November 24, 2025

That's the part of Wiggins' game that's captured the most approval from those who know where to find the breaks in the game beyond the box score, but he's a lot more than an unshakable shadow. He gives quarterbacks plenty of trouble besides standing in the way, having come down with a team-high three interceptions across 13 games, and can't afford to be a slouch in muscling up against playmakers attempting to bump him out of the way.

"I'm very physical. I feel like folks don't give me that, they just look at my weight, but nah," he clarified. "I'm gonna come up and hit, I'm gonna put hands on a receiver."

The Ravens have a lot of questions to answer about their future, especially apparent after this current roster full of past-their-prime contributors has opened up several areas desperate for improvement. But they're not completely free from useful building blocks, having evidently morphed one of their recent draftees into a potential franchise cornerback.

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