Ravens Defense Will Go As Roquan Smith And Marlon Humphrey Go. For Better Or Worse

It’s an oversimplification to say the Baltimore Ravens defense will go as Roquan Smith and Marlon Humphrey go, but it also might not be that far from the truth.

Certainly, there are other variables, most notably how quickly All Pro defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike can return to form, starting Sunday in Brazil, from a neck injury that stripped him of more than a year of his playing career. And if Madubuike is back to himself, he makes everyone better and the margins become much greater and pass rush, coverage and run defense all become stouter.

But outside of that health variable, it stands to reason that these two veterans – both favorites of general manager Eric DeCosta and both showing serious signs of decline in recent years – carry a heavy burden for rookie head coach Jesse Minter and his defense. This defense must lead this team right away, with the money and assets sunk into it, and with so many issues with a brand new offense that lacks a starting caliber center, and now is likely down its star left tackle and couldn’t pass protect, anyway, with a rookie play caller seemingly as worried about down-roster player development as he is winning a football game.

And, alas, amid that backdrop this defense still managed to get shredded, yet again, in the fourth quarter, as has been the case consistently since 2019, even with now a fourth person calling its plays (Wink Martindale, Mike Macdonald, Zach Orr, Minter). And, again, it’s a little more complicated than this – but Smith and Humphrey performed like $20M guys week one (albeit against a hobbled QB and what was a really limited offense in a blowout), and they played like their 2025 versions of themselves in Week 2.

I certainly wouldn’t bet on getting that Week 1 version with great frequency – Smith, a liability in coverage for years, dropped back and read Danial Jones and made an acrobatic pick and was a tackling machine; Humphrey played with energy and confidence and ripped a ball out of star running back Jonathan Taylor’s hand in a critical juncture. They also better be a lot better than they were against the Saints if this defense is going to be as improved as everyone associated with this football team say it needs to be.

If they perform to the outsized levels which DeCosta has compensated them (quite tellingly neither one got a sniff of a contract extension to lower their cap number in a walk year), then the defense should bounce back, and if they are something markedly less, brace for another disappointment.

“I would agree with that,” NFL analyst and longtime player Brian Baldinger explained on “The Daily Flock” this week. “I mean, Roquan's seen everything in this league. There's nothing he hasn't seen just from a recognition standpoint. And those two drives in the fourth quarter were disappointing. I mean, 16 play drive? You’ve got to figure out a way to get off the field.”

The Saints ran an astounding 26 plays in the fourth quarter and held the ball over 12 minutes and young quarterback Tyler Shough was 12/14 and 5/5 for 54 yards and a TD throwing to one-man army receiver Chris Olave. Smith and Humphrey were heavily involved.

Summer Hype; Fall Reality

If you recall, the coaching staff was proclaiming a redemption tour for these two all summer, especially coordinator Anthony Weaver, while both acknowledged their play was not where it needs to be. Smith played all 64 snaps Sunday; Humphrey played 63. Smith had two solo tackles and a pressure. Humphrey did have a pass breakup but got beat on a throw to Olave for 20 yards (it was a helluva throw) and a later conversion in the fourth quarter and it was not a sterling effort for this secondary overall.

“Olave had a good game,” Baldinger pointed out. “I'm sure Marlon wanted him and he had him, and he had a hard time with him.”

Humphrey, 30, was outplayed by veteran Chidobe Awuzie last season – it wasn’t even close – and Awuzie was re-signed on the cheap, but hasn’t played. Of course, we’ve already had a rookie offensive coordinator talk about wanting to develop fifth-round tight ends for his GM midway through the second game of the season, and we know the personnel department is running this show, and it’s obvious that DeCosta wants his $19.3M out of Humphrey … so we’ll be keeping a close eye on this timeshare.

“I would say that he has been a historic Raven in many ways,” DeCosta said of Humphre before the season. “Multi-time All-Pro, highly competitive, Pro Bowler, a leader here. I think he is going to have a great year. Had a great year a couple years ago … Did not have a great year last year.

“I feel confident he is going to rebound and have a great year this year. That is what that decision is about. I think corners are hard to find. Veteran corners who have played at very high levels are hard to find, and we are excited to see him play this year."

He’s the 10th highest paid corner in the NFL (with the highest cap hit in the NFL at that position). As part of a secondary loaded with first-round assets.

As for Smith, 29, only one veteran inside linebacker is making more than his $20M this season, and that is absolute difference maker Fred Warner (San Francisco). The fact the staff had to stump so hard for him entering this season said more than the words that came out of their mouths, and if he remains stunningly inconsistent this probably won’t be the last fourth-quarter lead they blow.

DeCosta carrying this linebacker at a ridiculous $33M cap hit (no other LB in the NFL is at $20M), is egregious, and duplicituous by design - if he's worth anything close to that he'd be extended, especially coming off two down years where they could buy low. And at the same time they invest nothing in their offensive live. But, hey, blame Harbaugh.

“I feel like in that game, Roquan was pretty invisible,” Baldinger said, “and I was a little bit surprised. He had the interception a week before. He's an every-down player. Like, I did not really see much from Roquan in that game.”

The Cowboys will attack them on a bad field this Sundays in the pass game in ways this defense hasn’t come close to seeing yet under Minter. We’ll see if they play to their age or play to their contracts.

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