A look into the reasoning behind the Ravens’ pick of CB Nate Wiggins at No. 30.
Entering the draft, cornerback was the second biggest need on the Ravens’ list. Outside of Marlon Humphrey, who’s had injury problems that last couple of seasons, and Brandon Stephens, who had a great season last year but is on the last year of his rookie contract, there wasn’t much in the cupboard. Jalyn Armour-Davis and Damarion Williams haven’t been able to find the field, and Arthur Maulet and Ar’Darius Washington primarily play nickel.
By losing Ronald Darby in free agency, the Ravens lost a guy who played 40% of their outside corner snaps. They were in desperate need of somebody who could play a backup cornerback role and more. Enter Nate Wiggins.
Wiggins played almost exclusively outside corner at Clemson and when it comes to coverage, he can do it all. Hard press, soft press, off coverage, bail technique, man, zone, Wiggins has the athleticism and processing to do it all. Despite his size, he’s capable of matching against bigger receivers because his punches in press are accurate, patient and timely. He has excellent speed (4.28-second 40-yard dash), silky smooth movement and hips to stick with quicker, twitchy receivers.
The size issues also don’t limit his physicality. He isn’t afraid to run up and smack a wide receiver on a curl or slant. He’s always looking to get his man to the ground. Even bigger receivers have a hard time keeping him from making a play on the ball (14 pass breakups and three interceptions across 18 starts). He also was used as an occasional blitzer.
At minimum, Wiggins will fill a backup corner role, complementing what the Ravens have with Humphrey and Stephens. Given time to adjust to the NFL, he should quickly earn a larger role in nickel packages against speedier receivers, and a couple of blitzes.
The biggest concern will be his lack of force as a run defender and whether he can hold up physically at the NFL level. His latest weight was 182 lbs. at his pro day. But, Wiggins is only 20 years old and should fill out a little more as he continues to grow. From there, a larger role in run support isn’t hard to imagine as a physical player. In the meantime, with Humphrey, Stephens and other flankers like safety Kyle Hamilton and linebacker Roquan Smith, Wiggins won’t have to be rushed into that role.
In a conference boasting a plethora of deadly wide receiver groups, Wiggins innate coverage ability from the jump will earn him a role. With groups like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in Miami, Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy in Kansas City, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in Cincy, Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore and Jerry Jeudy in Cleveland, a speedy physical coverage corner like Wiggins makes all the more sense.