The Ravens are among several teams interested in one of the most interesting prospects in this year’s draft.
Although rebuilding the offensive line is the Baltimore Ravens’ top priority this offseason, fortifying the secondary is not too far behind. Their defensive backfield lost a pair of key depth/rotational pieces at both cornerback and safety when Ronald Darby and Geno Stone signed decent-sized deals elsewhere in free agency.
Finding another ball-hawking centerfield presence at safety such as Stone who led the entire AFC in interceptions last season will be pretty hard to come by. With three-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey coming off an injury-riddled 2023 season and 2021 third-rounder Brandon Stephens heading into the final year of his rookie deal, the Ravens should need more reinforcements at perimeter cornerback.
One prospect at the position to keep an eye on as a potential Day 3 target is former CFL standout cornerback Qwan’Tez Stiggers. According to a report from KPRC 2 Houston’s Aaron Wilson, the Ravens are among the seven teams who have recently hosted him for a top 30 pre-draft visit.
#NFLDraft2024 cornerback Qwan’Tez Stiggers @CFL to visit #Vikings has also had visits with #Ravens #Broncos #Jets #Dolphins #Lions and #Texans visits per his agent, Fred Lyles, to @KPRC2 @LylesFrede53962 https://t.co/3hHb2yuDzI
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) April 5, 2024
Stiggers has one of the most interesting and winding paths to the NFL of any prospect in this year’s draft. He most recently played and starred for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League where he earned the league’s Most Outstanding Rookie and East All-Star honors after starting 16 games and recording five interceptions.
That’s an INT! pic.twitter.com/sTo5yIl4pl
— Toronto Argonauts (@TorontoArgos) June 18, 2023
Prior to last year, he spent a brief stint playing in the fan-controlled Indoor Football League in 2022 where recorded five interceptions in 12 games. He spent 2021 away from the game and never played a down of college football despite earning a scholarship coming out of high school. The tragic passing of his father in 2020 due to a car accident resulted in him dropping out before he could strap on pads and a helmet for a game at Lane College, a Historical Black College/University.
Stiggers was able to intrigue enough NFL league officials with his unorthodox pathway to prominence to enter the 2024 draft pool and earn an invite to the East-West Shrine Bowl where he stood out throughout the week of practice as well as the all-star game itself.
Toronto Argonauts CB Qwan’tez Stiggers was the CFL’s Rookie of the Year because he got his hands on a lot of footballs. Here he is with a PBU in 7-on-7 against Mississippi State’s Griffin Lideatrick.
A fun story to watch at the @ShrineBowl this week. pic.twitter.com/SYwte2ct7m
— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) January 28, 2024
While he wasn’t invited to the 2024 Scouting Combine, Stiggers was still able to produce impressive testing numbers at his pro day where he ran a 4.45-seconds in the 40-yard dash with a 1.52-second 10-yard split in the 90th percentile, jumped a vertical of 26 inches, leaped a broad jump of 10-foot-8, ran a 7.03-second three-cone and 4.32-second short-shuttle.
At 5-foot-11 and 204 pounds with 30.5-inch arms, Stiggers isn’t the biggest or longest cornerback but he is well-built nonetheless with the instincts, physicality and feisty competitiveness to hold up and make plays on the outside. He is still young at just 22 years old and would likely start out his career as a core special teams contributor with the Ravens but could carve out or get thrust into a role on defense once he gets acclimated to a higher level of competition for the third year in a row.