We’re 2/3 done with the regular season, which gives every player enough time to show their true colors this season, whether they are much better or much worse than in previous seasons. This begs the question:
Which players are having breakout seasons this year? On the other side of the coin, which players are having breakdown seasons?
(no rookies)
Darious Williams has been really good at corner for us especially with Tyson Campbell out
Justin Madibuike. He has the most sacks out of any DT and has been slightly improving every year until this year where he is breaking out into a star.
Tyler Smith and Bland are having all pro seasons
Breakouts for the Ravens:
Kyle Hamilton. Had a solid rookie year last year where he was used as mostly a slot corner in certain packages and is now having a first team all pro season in 2023. He plays deep safety, box safety, slot corner, and linebacker equally well and can singlehandedly take over a game on defense with his playmaking. He has the most coverage snaps in the league at safety, is the 4th most targeted safety, yet only allows a 58.0 passer rating. He has the most PBUs, 2nd most pressures, and most sacks of any safety. And he just broke the franchise record for TFLs in a season by a DB with 8 (1st in the league among safeties as well), previously set by Ed Reed. This guy is gonna be a beast for us for years to come.
Justin Madubuike. He has improved every year in the league and is this year is the culmination of that. He has 10 sacks on the season already as a DT and 10 more TFLs to boot. His stats are a little gaudy imo considering he gets a ton of great looks on our defense with the stunts and picks we run, but he is still having a great year and the impact he has is undeniable.
Breakdowns for the Ravens:
Ronnie Stanley: Has clearly lost a step or two after looking like he might regain his pre injury form in 2022 after a two year absence from a severe ankle break. Now it is is knee bothering him apparently, but he has just not been solid at LT all year. Last game against the Chargers he gave up 6 pressures and nearly sacked Lamar himself twice. You hope for the best but its hard to see the ravens keeping him on next year with a 26 million dollar cap hit when we can save 11 million to cut him.
Justin Tucker: All of our special teams have been abnormally bad this season, but even considering that it been a bad year for Tucker. Not just bad for his standards, bad by any standard. He has a career low FG percentage of 80.7 and is 1/5 on field goals 50 yards or greater. Though one of those 50 yarders was blocked, the Ravens haven’t been calling his number as much on long field goals which shows the level of confidence the team has in him has diminished. We will see whether his performance is a symptom of our overall special teams dysfunction this year or the Tucker era of kicking dominance is coming to an end.