The Baltimore Ravens best cornerback Jimmy Smith will make his 2018 debut in Sunday’s matchup against the Cleveland Browns and for the first time since mid-2016, the Ravens secondary will be completely healthy. Before the NFL season began, the Ravens quintet of defensive backs was touted as perhaps being the best secondary in all of football and will now have a chance to live up to the hype. This comes after Baltimore was able to lead the NFL in with 22 interceptions, added 12 fumble recoveries, and posted three shutouts on the heels of a strong secondary in 2017.
Now after serving his suspension, it is finally time for Smith to step in and take the Ravens secondary to the next level in 2018.
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Jimmy Smith to Make 2018 Debut in Week Five
The Other Members of the Secondary
Brandon Carr has looked good for the majority of his four starts in Smith’s absence but his role will diminish come Sunday though his start-streak will continue. Marlon Humphrey has looked great as the number one corner since Smith’s injury in 2017 and Tavon Young has picked up where he left off in the slot after being sidelined all last season. The trio looked at their best against one of the NFL’s best receiving corps in the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday, limiting their receivers to just 274 yards through the air as a unit.
The secondary effectively doubled up Antonio Brown (minus one play) and didn’t allow a receiver over 65 yards on the day. Backup safety Anthony Levine also made two almost identical plays in coverage late in the game to break up key passes over the middle. Both of the targets went Brown’s way and one was an interception that essentially ended the game. The Ravens are currently allowing the fourth least passing yards per game and have still yet to yield a second-half touchdown.
Even with the secondary playing well in three of their four games, it is impossible to forget what happened in the first half against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Would Smith’s presence have stopped the onslaught brought on in the first quarter of the Ravens first half dismantlement in Week Two? Maybe. But the Ravens have always had trouble defending A.J. Green more than any other receiver in the NFL. Now with Smith back in the lineup, he will match up against Brown and Green for the second time and see Michael Thomas all in a four-game span starting Week Seven.
Effect on the Pass Rush
Baltimore’s pass rush used to be a large strength during the heydays of Terrell Suggs and Elvis Dumervil but it has become one of their biggest weaknesses since last season. Through four weeks the Ravens have done a good job stuffing the run, giving up the fourth least yards per game on the ground, but have only managed a pedestrian 10 sacks. Not awful, but that total is tied with seven other teams for 12th in the NFL.
Another concern considering that many of Baltimore’s younger pass rushers were expected to take a step forward in 2018 is the following. Besides the six sacks the Ravens picked up in their Week One rout of the Buffalo Bills, there has been little to no pressure on the quarterback. Matt Judon wanted to “lead the league in sacks” and currently sits at just a half sack on the year while Tavon Young is tied for second on the team with 2.0. Suggs has looked good again in his 16th season but is also slowly regressing at age 35 with just 2.5 sacks this year.
The Ravens coverage unit has been very good so far in 2018, but the return of Jimmy Smith can elevate them to the best group in the NFL.https://t.co/t2PRxrf89E
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— PFF (@PFF) October 3, 2018
Smith doesn’t typically crash the pocket to help out his defensive lineman — that blitzing responsibility is typically held to Young. However, his coverage skills will at least give the pass rush a few more seconds to get to the quarterback. Since 2017, when Smith is healthy, the Ravens have the best opponent clean pocket passer rating in the entire NFL. With Humphrey and Young making strides in 2018, Smith’s addition will almost certainly help the Ravens break into the top-10 in sacks and make their pass rush even deadlier.
Smith’s Debut
The Ravens take on Cleveland Week Five and will face a wide receiver tandem that has only had success in spurts this season. They will also luckily avoid Josh Gordon. This leaves the Browns with an underwhelming duo of Jarvis Landry and Antonio Callaway. Landry has had two 100+ yard receiving games so far in 2018 but like usual, is not much of a red zone threat. The same goes for Callaway. At this point in his career, Callaway looks like a deep/intermediate threat and not much more. He may improve his route running down the line but as of now, it is not a strength.
These situations play right into the Ravens’ hands. With Young once again manning the slot where he is most comfortable, Smith will most likely have a chance to match up with the young Callaway. Callaway has not yet shown that he can consistently break off from great corners and should be an easy blanket – even in a tuneup game – for Smith. If not him, then Rashard Higgins. Higgins had the best game of his career last season during Week Two in Baltimore but only made one of his seven catches on the day in the vicinity of Smith. The catch only went for eight yards.
There may be some rust early for Smith but Baltimore should be 4-1 at the end of their game on Sunday.
Jimmy Smith’s Future Beyond Week Five
At 30 years old, Smith’s time may be running out and with his history of injury, it’s hard to imagine he hangs around long after he turns 33. However, he became one of the brightest spots during some of the Ravens’ darkest times in the last decade. Considering the form he showed before going out in 2017, there’s no reason to believe that Smith won’t perform like a lockdown corner for the rest of 2018.
