Opinion: Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey is far from the NFL’s most overrated cornerback

Oh how quickly the click bait chasers forget.

Every year following the NFL Draft and schedule release, the content machine begins to slow down and writers who cover specific teams or the league in general are forced to get more creative when coming up with topics to expound upon for their readers.

Some are overly optimistic or pessimistic when it comes to projecting and predicting. Meanwhile, others are clearly just thirsty for engagement via aggregation so they churn out clickbait they know will make some headlines and go viral on social media. A recent article by Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay labeling the most overrated players at each position entering the 2024 season falls into the latter category.

Kay’s pick for the most overrated cornerback in the league is Baltimore Ravens three-time Pro Bowler Marlon Humphrey, which is not only wrong but completely asinine and he began his argument with a contradictory statement.

“Marlon Humphrey is only one year removed from the most recent of his three Pro Bowl appearances, but the 2019 All-Pro has been slipping for years and is no longer one of the premier cornerbacks in the NFL,” Kay wrote.

How can a player be just one year removed from one of the best seasons of his career in which he didn’t allow a single touchdown have “been slipping for years?” Humphrey’s 626 coverage snaps without giving up a score in 2022 were the most in the league by more than 200, according to Pro Football Focus.

Kay went on to mention how Humphrey’s level of pay as the league’s fourth-highest-paid cornerback in terms of average annual salary doesn’t match his level of play as of late but that is also false. Despite battling multiple injuries in 2023, including a foot surgery in training camp that disrupted his preparation and delayed his debut, Humphrey still only gave up one touchdown, 21 completions, the lowest completion percentage of his career (46.7) and the lowest opposing passer rating of his career (64.6) in 10 games last year, per Pro Football Reference.

“His impact on the game is rapidly diminishing,” Kay wrote. “He’s been getting beat in coverage more often, and he’s coming dangerously close to a liability as he enters his eighth NFL season.”

Clearly, the only Ravens game Kay watched last year was in Week 5 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which also happened to be Humphrey’s first game back from injury after missing the first four games of the regular season while recovering from foot surgery. It also just so happened to be the only game in which he gave up a touchdown, and it wound up being the game-winner late because of all the drops by the Ravens receivers earlier in the game.

Kay brought up the number of catches, receiving yards and touchdowns Humphrey allowed over three years before last season but again didn’t mention how he didn’t give up a score as the nearest defender in 2022 or how he followed up his first team All-Pro 2019 season by leading the league in forced fumbles with eight and being voted to his second straight Pro Bowl in 2020.

Cornerback play and production are some of the hardest aspects of the game to judge from year to year based on a myriad of factors ranging from health, schedule of opposing quarterbacks and scheme, not to mention how the position is just naturally mercurial.

“There’s a chance that Humphrey could bounce back by staying healthy and locking down opposing pass-catchers in 2024, but he hasn’t managed to accomplish both of those in a season for quite some time,” Kay wrote. “Considering how much money he’s making each year, that should be an annual occurrence, not a rarity.”

Once again, Kay’s perception of time must be diluted or measured in dog years because 2022 is just one season removed at this moment and Humphrey still had a solid year in 2023 despite never being fully himself.

The pecking order for the upper echelon of cornerbacks changes from year to year whenever the hot new kids on the block burst on the scene and make a name for themselves early on in their respective careers. However, Humphrey is still on the right side of 30 at just 27 years old and won’t be 28 until July, his deal will look like a bargain next offseason when Sauce Gardner and Patrick Surtain will be eligible to break the bank and reset the cornerback market. Humphrey likely won’t even be the highest-paid defensive back on his own team for much longer as 2023 First-Team All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton will be eligible to sign an extension after the 2024 season as well.

There are many more well-deserving veteran cornerbacks deserving of the most overrated title including two on the Dallas Cowboys who rack up a ton of interceptions but regularly get burned for big gains and touchdowns both of which are rarities for Humphrey. He will be the leader of a three and potentially four-headed monster at cornerback for the Ravens in 2024 which will also feature 2023 breakout stud Brandon Stephens and rookies Nate Wiggins and T.J. Tampa.

Kay’s proclamation was so comical Humphrey himself couldn’t help but to have some fun with a quote tweet with an excerpt from the article.