By Alex Woodward
The Ravens were hurting in the secondary after losing multiple contributors to injuries. Today, they bolstered that secondary by trading away former 4th round draft pick Kenny Young and a 2020 5th round draft pick to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for 2-time pro bowl cornerback Marcus Peters. Peters will be joining his third team in five seasons but should make an immediate impact on an underperforming defense.
My first thought when hearing about the deal was "wow, I'm surprised that's all it took." Kenny Young has fallen out of favor with the Ravens recently after struggling early in the season and it was clear they lost faith in him last week against the Bengals when Patrick Onwuasor sat out with an injury and Young still didn't get any snaps on defense. Trading away a guy that they weren't interested in along with an extra 5th round draft pick (they have two thanks to the Vikings giving up a pick for Vedvik) is a hell of a deal for a guy that has proven to be a playmaker on defense. Peters was the 2015 defensive rookie of the year, he was an All-Pro in 2016 and he has the most interceptions (24) in the NFL since 2015. On the Rams side of the deal, I find it interesting that they were willing to part ways with Peters after they sent Aqib Talib to the injured reserve recently but they could be positioning themselves for a Jalen Ramsey trade.
Peters helps a struggling secondary that has given up the 6th most yards through the air (1,617) and should help the Ravens continue their versatile personnel groupings. I'm very curious to see where Peters lines up on Sunday. Will he take over slot corner duties? Will he line up on the outside with Humphrey and then Brandon Carr slides to the slot? Also, what happens when Jimmy Smith returns from his injury? It should be very interesting to see how defensive coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale deploys his new weapon in the secondary and how that addition impacts how often they use inside linebackers on a regular basis since the team is now down one more inside linebacker to an already thin position group.
The timing for this deal couldn't have been better. The Ravens are about to face one of the top MVP candidates in Russell Wilson this weekend and then after the bye they face the likes of Tom Brady, Deshaun Watson and Jared Goff. The pass rush is still a major concern and maybe another deal is on the horizon but the addition of Peters definitely helps the Ravens be more creative on defense.