Marlon Humphrey credits fellow Ravens All Pro for stabilization of secondary

After a horrendously inconsistent start to the season, Kyle Hamilton was pinpointed as the main catalyst for the recent turnaround.

After finishing with the NFL’s top defense last season, the Baltimore Ravens were still expected to field one of the league’s best defenses in 2024 despite a massive brain drain from the coaching staff and the loss of some key starters in free agency during the offseason.

Heading into the regular season, the secondary was being billed as the deepest and most talented in the league with the potential to be elite but they were anything but through the first 10 games of the season. Due to a litany of blown coverages, missed assignments and miscommunications, they ranked dead-last in pass defense, allowing an average of nearly 300 yards per game and gave up the most plays of 20-plus yards over that span.

Over the past four games, they’ve done a complete 180-degree turnaround when it comes to defending the pass and has been one of the stoutest and most structurally sound overall units in the league as their run defense has been elite all season. After getting lit up by Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase for the second time in a dramatic win that went down to the wire in Week 10, the Ravens and first-year defense coordinator Zach Orr made some changes to both the starting lineup and roles to established starters.

First Team All Pro safety Kyle Hamilton transitioned from the hybrid slot defender role that made him a star to a more traditional safety role in which he spends most of his time roaming the backend and not as much in the box or at the line of scrimmage. When asked what has led the pass defense’s ability to click so much better over the past month, three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey pointed to Hamilton and all he has done to stabilize the secondary in his new role.

“Honestly, if I had to just pinpoint one thing, I would say it’s putting Kyle back there at safety,” Humphrey said. “That guy is just different. His play, obviously, you guys see the play, but the communication getting guys right. There are plays that I’m on the field … I get the call, I ask Kyle ‘What do I do in this call?’ I hear Kyle give somebody else what they need to do in this call. His smarts, how he keeps the guys calm – he’s just a piece you can put at any position. But, him going back to safety has seemed to really stabilize everybody else in all of their spots, whether it’s corners, communicating to the nickel, communicating to the ‘backers. ‘Ro’ [Roquan Smith] is doing so much giving the front and everything, but I think Kyle has been able to help us stabilize in the secondary, and to me, that’s kind of been the big thing.”

In addition to Hamilton, he also believes they’ve “really tried to play more together” at all three levels as the pass rush and coverage unit need to have a harmonious relationship in order for the whole defense to excel at a high level.

“And then the pass rush, they’ve come alive as well,” Humphrey said. “[It’s been] a little bit more of a cage-rush type deals and letting guys win their one-on-ones. It’s been a group effort to get things right. I’m not trying to give Kyle all of the credit, but he deserves a big amount for sure.”

Hamilton has already set new career-highs in total tackles with 94—second-most on the team—and quarterback hits with six in addition to recording two sacks, seven pass breakups, four tackles for loss, a forced fumble and fumble recovery in 14 games. The third-year pro downplayed the magnitude of his role transition and still believes there is plenty more to clean up to get even better.

“I’m just playing safety now, it’s not like we reinvented the wheel,” Hamilton said. “We knew what we had to do the whole time, not making dumb mistakes, just keeping the ball in front of us, making tackles and stuff like that. I feel like that we’ll be really good if we polish up stuff like that, penalties as well.”

Improved communication and knowing where everybody else is and is supposed to be on the field have been a huge factor in his game and the elevated play of the defense as a whole.

“I think that’s a big reason why I think I help when I’m out there,” Hamilton said. “I feel like I’m out there, obviously to play well, but at the same time, make sure guys are playing well and playing fast at the same time. I don’t want people out there thinking, whether it’s Nate [Wiggins] outside or Marlon [Humphrey] or Roquan [Smith]. He has a lot of his plate, so I try to take some off his plate. Just communication-wise, if I can have everybody on the same page, just starting with me, starting with Roquan and going from there, I think we’ll be playing fast and playing really well.”

Not to be outshined, Humphrey himself is having a dominant and highly impactful resurgent season after struggling with nagging injuries that caused him to miss eight of a possible 19 games including playoffs in 2023. He is predominantly playing more nickel with Arthur Maulet dealing with injuries and Ar’Darius Washington replacing Marcus Williams as the starting safety next to Hamilton. Through 13 games, he appears to have regained his former First Team All Pro form with 53 total tackles including four for a loss, 12 pass breakups, four quarterback hits, half a sack, a forced fumble and a career-high five interceptions—tied for the third-most in the NFL.

Even when the secondary as a whole was struggling mightily with consistency through the first 10 games, the three-time Pro Bowler was playing lights out in coverage and regularly came up with timely stops and turnovers that swung momentum in the Ravens’ favor in games that turned into blowouts or that were tight all the way through.

Humphrey is grateful for his improved health compared to last year but credited his renewed mindset for his success this season and altered outlook on life overall.

“This year, I came into it a little bit different than I would say I’ve ever approached a season. Last year, with the injuries, it was a lot, mentally. And I kind of just treated this year, I’ve really tried to treat each day – I think about training camp – I just came into the season [thinking] you never really know what’s going to happen. And I think the situations we had throughout training camp with guys getting in car wrecks, our [offensive line] coach [Joe D’Alessandris] passing away – I really try to treat every day like it’s my last, and I try to treat every practice [like it’s my last].

“I journal a lot more, and I basically just write whatever I’m writing, and I write usually, ‘Just treat today. Enjoy today. Do what you can.’ So I think that’s really been able to help me really just enjoy the days to where, obviously, you want to stay healthy, you want to play for a long time, but watching games is just not very fun, and you think, ‘Man, if I could do this.’ And then [defensive coordinator] Zach Orr being a coach who … You really just never know when your last play of football is going to be, and I think that’s not a reality that a lot of us think of as football players. I think that’s not a reality that people think in life. It’s just, we had people that could have been in tragic car accidents, a coach pass – there’s so many things that you can think about. I’m just very grateful to just wake up today, wake up hopefully tomorrow [and all the other] days I get it. And it’s helped me just be more calm as a player, just go into it [and] enjoy what I can enjoy, control what I can control, and I think that’s been the biggest difference, I would say.”