On Tuesday evening, news broke that the Ravens had just completed an interview for their vacant defensive coordinator position with Kris Richard, defensive backs coach of the New Orleans Saints. After moving through the ranks of the Seattle coaching staff, and being a key cog in the wheel during the “Legion of Boom” era, he eventually found himself as defensive coordinator in 2015. In his three years in that position, his defenses finished 1st, 3rd, and 13th in points allowed respectively (the latter drop largely due to an injury depleted Seahawks defense in 2017) before bouncing around to the Dallas Cowboys, and most recently the New Orleans Saints.
The addition of Richard would deliver a staunch philosophical shift from the defense that Wink Martindale has fielded in Baltimore over recent years. For starters, Richard’s secondary scheme is largely based on zone coverage, while Wink would routinely has his corners in man coverage against opposing pass catchers. Richard’s defense also doesn’t feature much blitzing from the linebacker position, which as we know has also been a Martindale staple over the years. Most notably though, Richard historically ran a 4-3 base front during his days as defensive coordinator in Seattle, with a reliance on getting consistent pressure from his front four.
The #Ravens have interviewed defensive assistant Kris Richard for DC. Richard has experience as a coordinator in Seattle with stints in Dallas and most recently New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/ItYOmV00JK
— Tony Lombardi (@RSRLombardi) January 26, 2022
So, what would this mean for the Ravens defense?
Right off the rip, it would appear that Odafe Oweh and the rest of the pass rushers would be more affected than anyone. The shift from being a stand up outside backer to a “hand in the dirt” defensive end, may be just what he needs to take that major step forward in 2022 after a solid rookie campaign. Being able to focus exclusively on rushing the passer and allowing the linebackers to handle the pass coverage duties would put him in a position to consistently do what he does best.
On the flip side, a base defense that features more linebacker coverage as opposed to blitzes could hinder guys like Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison. Now, there’s little doubt that Queen took major steps forward over the latter half of 2021. He was one of the few rocks the defense could rely on in one of the most uncertain seasons in franchise history. With that said, his issue in pass coverage was still apparent even up to the last week of the season against Pittsburgh.
Harrison didn’t see much time on the field at the end of the year after his mid-season incident, but his issues in that department are also well known. Should the Ravens decide to go with Richard, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them take a middle linebacker in the early rounds of the draft with better coverage skills to pair with Queen & Co. Or maybe they go and sign one in free agency, perhaps a player who may be a Seahawks cap casualty soon and has an extensive history with Richard.
In the secondary, this move would allow the corners to play more freely and not always be on an island. Now, there’s no doubting the man coverage abilities of Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters, they’re both elite in that aspect and having two players of that caliber on the outside may entice Richard to deploy more man looks. Nonetheless, more zone coverage will assuredly help in the big play department, which was clearly the Achilles heel of the Ravens defense this year. Richard has also historically employed a single high safety on the back end, a role that would be perfect for someone such as free agent Marcus Williams (who Richard coached in New Orleans this season) or dare I say Tyrann Mathieu?
The 42-year-old Carson, CA native and former third-round pick of the Seahawks in 2002, would be a great hire for a Ravens team looking for a new defensive approach in 2022. We’ll see if his first interview turns into a second later this week, but ESPN’s Josina Anderson noted on Twitter that the team expects to have the decision making process wrapped up in the next week or so.
Keep an eye out for Kris Richard Ravens flock. And keep another on the Steelers who also seek to fill the vacancy left by their recently departed DC Keith Butler.
One way or another there’s some fresh faces coming to town.
Kris Richard is currently the Saints’ defensive backs coach ???? pic.twitter.com/3cOSqE8929
— Steelers Nation (@SteelerNationCP) January 25, 2022
