Baltimore Ravens rookie CB takes another step forward

The Baltimore Ravens defense had its best performance of the season in a 35-10 win over the Buffalo Bills.

The heart of the one-sided victory was cornerback Nate Wiggins. The 2024 first-round draft pick once again showed his good side, making two tackles and defending another pass in the game against Buffalo. Wiggins also saw significant improvement in playing time, as he was on the field for 86 percent of the defense’s snaps.

Ravens (2-2) head coach John Harbaugh credited Wiggins’ mindset and his performance in the week leading up to the game as the reason why the rookie cornerback has taken a big step in his development over the past two weeks.

“That’s growth – (Nate Wiggins is) just a growth guy (with) a growth mindset,” Harbaugh said Monday. “We trust our boys to learn and develop. (We) gave him a chance to go out there and do it again. He exercises really well. He and I had many conversations; he and (associate head coach/passing game coordinator) Chris (Hewitt) had a lot of conversations – it’s just a natural part of football. He listens and last week he trained well, went out on the field and had fun.

Wiggins also had two tackles and a key forced fumble that led to a turnover in the red zone during the Ravens’ 28-25 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3. Wiggins played 48 percent of the defense’s snaps against Dallas.

The Ravens defense was under constant pressure from the Bills offense and Josh Allen, sacking him three times and inflicting eight quarterback hits. Allen completed 16 of 29 passes and threw for just 180 yards, and Buffalo’s entire offense totaled just 236 yards.

Harbaugh noted that the secondary has the ability to play at full strength, and Wiggins’ improvement since Week 3 has played a key role in slowing down a Bills offense that was averaging 37.3 points per game before Sunday.

“I thought Brandon (Stephens) was really good,” Harbaugh said. “I thought the things (Wiggins) needed to do better week to week, he did them. He fixed them. Marlon (Humphrey) was wherever people were. Our security was well secured. It’s good to feel like you can have the confidence that they’re playing with a man.”

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