The Ravens were able to lock up one of their up and coming stars and key components to success when cornerback Lardarius Webb signed a 6 year contract worth 50 million dollars including a 10 million dollar signing bonus with 20 million of that money guaranteed.
So what does this mean for the Ravens?
To put it in perspective 4 years ago if you asked any Ravens fan “what is the biggest problem with our team?” they would reply with “our secondary”.
Gone are the days of Frank Walker and his “hug first, tackle later” style of play and all of the yellow hankies associated with it. Gone are the days where the only time our Ravens made it on Sport Center were to show a not top 10 of our corners getting abused or for the talking heads at to bash our secondary.
Those days seem so distant now as we admire the plethora of talent that roams the turf at M&T Bank carefully waiting and watching to ensure no team takes to the air while funneling quarterbacks to attack down the middle where the would-be gold glover Ed Reed waits to do what he does best.
The Ravens ranked 3rd last year against the pass while finishing 6th against the run, although still very respectable, Ravens fans know their team has not always been known for shutting down the passing game.
It’s been quite some time since Ravens fans could look forward to the potential of having of the league’s top ranked secondary. Not since the 2000 Ravens trotted out an all-star secondary in Rod Woodson, Chris McAlister, Duane Starks and Kim Herring have the Ravens had the amount of talent that the 2012 team will be fielding.
With proven young players in Lardarius Webb and Cary Williams already manning the starting corners, second year players Danny Gorrer and highly touted Jimmy Smith (who had his rookie season shortened due to an injury he sustained in the first game of the season) add depth and great options at nickel. With the sidelines on lock down the ball hawking captain of this secondary, Ed Reed, will have free roam to pick off helpless quarterbacks while Bernard Pollard delivers bone crushing hits on any receiver unlucky to slip past the first line of defense.
Not just any group of players can make Tom Brady look like Kyle Boller on a stage as big as the AFC Championship game.
But our guys can.
And they did!
