Uncovering the Ravens Secondary
By Michael Crawford (@abukari)
In this piece, I take a look at snap participation for the Ravens defensive backs in the 2020 and 2019 seasons. I also try to unpack what roles they ask these players to fill and in which situations they use them. This may be the most important thing I say in the entire piece - thank you to @yoshi2052 (on Twitter) for providing this data. If not for him, none of what you’re about to read would exist.
What’s in a name?
Defensive Backs or DBs, includes Cornerbacks (CB) and Safeties (S). But those lines can blur. Sometimes a player listed as a CB may play like a S or the other way round. Think about it in terms of assignments, like protecting the deep middle of the field. That player is typically a S but could just as well be a CB. What about lining up to cover a wide receiver outside the numbers? Typically that player is a CB but could also be a S depending on who the player outside the numbers is, for example a tight end (TE) or running back (RB).
This blurring of position designations and assignments can also extend to other positions, like linebacker (LB) for example. On a pass play, a LB could bump out to cover a slot receiver or detached TE. He’s still listed as a LB on the roster but he’s performing a function, covering a slot receiver, that’s typically performed by a DB. This is where we could take detours to talk about matchups, down & distance or field position, but you can see how many rabbit holes this could take us down. For the purposes of this article, we’ll contain the discussion to DBs.
How many DBs do you need on the field?
You’ve probably heard that the NFL is all about matchups. Let’s spend some time talking about that, specifically as it relates to personnel. Before we dive deeper, let’s assume that any of the examples of offensive formations we discuss include 5 offensive linemen (OL) and a quarterback. With that established, here’s our first example:
The offense takes the field with 1 RB, 1 TE and 3 wide receivers (WR). This is also known as 11 personnel where the first digit in “11” represents the number of RBs and the 2nd digit represents the number of TEs. The defense counters with 4 defensive linemen (DL), 3 LB and 4 DB (2 CBs and 2 S). Let’s further assume the offense is in a passing situation, say 3rd & 7. If you’re the Offensive Coordinator, where do you think you might have an advantage? You could have a favorable matchup between your RB or TE and a LB. You could also like your chances to isolate one of your WRs on a S. We could get way down in the weeds and talk about individual physical mismatches within those matchups, but again, we’re going to try to avoid going down too many rabbit holes.
For the sake of simplicity, let’s set the stage this way. The defense is playing man to man coverage on our 5 eligible pass catchers, with the 2 safeties offering help over the top. That means one of the defense’s LBs will be matched up against one of the WRs. In a vacuum, you’d probably like that matchup as an OC.
The OL does it’s job. The QB gets the ball out and completes the pass to the WR running an out route against the LB. 8 yard gain and a first down for the offense.
Rewind to the beginning of this scenario but with one change - let’s replace one of the defense’s LBs with a DB, specifically a CB. Now the defense has 5 DBs on the field: 3 CBs and 2 S, aka Nickel personnel. Again, an individual physical mismatch can always exist, but in a vacuum, the defense probably feels better about this matchup than they did with the LB covering a WR.
What if the offense has 4 WRs and 1 RB (aka 10 personnel) on the field? What if all of those players are fast, good route runners and catch the ball well? What if the game situation forces the offense into pass only mode?
In passing situations, the defense wants to get after the QB first and foremost. But in terms of the secondary personnel, they probably want as much speed and coverage on the field as possible. So the defense could deploy 6 DBs, aka Dime personnel, or 7 DBs, aka Quarter personnel. Coaches may have different terminology for those secondary personnel packages, but let’s use Nickel, Dime and Quarter, so we're working off the same sheet of music.
Now that we’ve looked at when and why a defense might want to have additional DBs on the field, and what those DBs might be assigned to do, let’s look at some snap participation numbers from the Ravens DBs in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Nickel and Dime Snaps
Nickel and Dime DB Combinations
Nickel and Dime Snaps per Player
One of the first things these numbers show is the difference in the number of Nickel and Dime snaps the Ravens defense played in 2020 and 2019. Why did they play 245 more Nickel snaps in 2020 than 2019? Why did they play 215 more Dime snaps in 2019 than 2020? Was it a scheme choice or a necessity dictated by personnel?
For this article, I’m going to let those questions breathe a little instead of smothering them by offering my thoughts. But I am interested in hearing what you think. Leave your thoughts in the comments or tweet them to me @abukari.
We’d expect the starters to lead the way in snap counts in both Nickel and Dime but where it gets interesting is with the 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th DBs. Jimmy Smith and Anthony Averett lead the way in this group and while that may not seem all that surprising, it’s looking towards the 2021 season and thinking about how usage could play out in 2021 that’s interesting to me.
Tavon Young and Iman Marshall are both expected to return from injury. Jimmy Smith, Anthony Averett, Khalil Dorsey, Devontae Harris, Chris Westry, Anthony Levine, Jordan Richards, Geno Stone and Nigel Warrior are all on the current roster. The Ravens also drafted Brandon Stephens (3rd round) and Shaun Wade (5th round) in the 2021 draft. They also signed Ar’Darius Washington as an undrafted free agent. By my count, that’s 13 players competing for those 5th - 7th DB spots on the active roster. Teams are allowed to carry 12 players on their practice squads, so we know some of these DBs will land there. But that number is probably 4-5 DBs, so at least 1-2 will be released prior to the final roster cut down.
Which DBs will make the team (53 man roster or practice squad)? What roles will those DBs who make the team play (special teams and/or defensive snaps)? How much or how little will they play? My best answer to these questions? It depends. It depends on a variety of factors such as injury, opponent personnel, game situation and who is ready to play.
It Depends on Injuries
When Young and Smith were both healthy in 2020, they were the 5th and 6th DBs. They both played in nickel and dime. I charted 45 combined snaps of nickel and dime between the week 1 game against the Browns and the first 5 defensive snaps of the week 2 game against the Texans, before Young’s injury. Either Young or Smith (sometimes both) were on the field for 40 of 45 of those snaps. Other players like Averett and Levine mixed in at times but when Young and Smith were healthy, they played the majority of the nickel and dime snaps.
But we know football is a game with a 100% injury rate. We also know that both Young and Smith have a fairly extensive injury history. Obviously I hope both players are able to play the entire 2021 season but if that doesn’t happen, who are the next men up?
I think we’d probably see Averett up first. His snap count increased each week, beginning in the Texans game where Young was injured. He played 23, 28 & 62 snaps in weeks 2-4 before dealing with his own injury. So you’re probably wondering what happens if all 3 players are injured? The answer to that depends on who makes the roster but as current year draft selections, you’d have to think Brandon Stephens and Shaun Wade factor in some way. But don’t count out the DBs who are already on the roster. It’s going to be a heated competition.
It Depends on Opponent Personnel
It’s a match up league. We’ve all heard that and DB usage is one of the areas where it shows up the most. I dove into this earlier so I won’t rehash all of it here but I will leave you with this one example. In those 45 snaps where Young and Smith were both healthy, offenses utilized 11 personnel on 26 snaps. The Ravens defense played nickel on 15 snaps in those situations and Young was on the field for 14 of those 15 snaps. Teams utilized 12 personnel on 17 snaps and when the Ravens played nickel against those looks, Young was on the field for 5 of those 17 snaps. Young played more when the offense had a 3rd WR on the field than when they deployed 2nd TE. When the Ravens were in nickel vs those 2 TE sets, Smith played more than Young.
It Depends on Game Situation
This one is pretty self-explanatory so I won’t spend much time on it. When a team is trailing, especially when it’s late in the game, they’re going to call more passes than runs. The defense knows this and they’re most likely going to counter with nickel or dime personnel. When an offense has to throw the ball, they’re probably going to have their best pass catchers on the field. As a defense, you better counter with your best coverage players in the secondary.
It Depends on Who is Ready to Play
I was primarily thinking about young players and free agents on this one but it could apply to any player. Coaches aren’t going to put players on the field who aren’t ready to play. Sometimes injuries can force a coach’s hand in terms of who plays, regardless of how ready they are, but let’s set that aside for the sake of this discussion.
What does “ready to play” mean? Do you know the playbook? Do you know your assignment? Do you know the proper techniques to use to execute your assignment? Do you know the adjustments that may be needed based on what the offense shows you pre-snap or does post-snap?
If a player can’t demonstrate they know the things I just listed AND actually perform them on the field, it’s going to be difficult for coaches to trust them. If a coach doesn’t trust you, he’s probably not gonna play you.
So who is going to play in 2021?
It depends. It’s an answer that doesn’t feel like an answer but one we see so often in football, and in life. It’s an acknowledgment of the variety of factors that can influence outcomes. It’s also an acknowledgment, at least on my part, that I don’t know what I don’t know. What feels safe to say is, assuming they’re healthy, Marcus Peters, Marlon Humphrey, DeShon Elliott and Chuck Clark will be on the field for the majority of the Ravens defensive snaps. What feels a little less safe to say, due to a small sample size, is that Tavon Young and Jimmy Smith will likely be on the field the most as the 5th and 6th DBs. The NFL season is long and injuries are a certainty, so we know other DBs will play. Who will those players be, how much will they play and in what situations? Well .. it depends.