Ravens Rookie CB Takes Another Step Forward

The Baltimore Ravens have continued to see improvement from rookie cornerback Nate Wiggins.

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins (2) strips the ball away from Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) during the second quarter at AT&T Stadium. / Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Ravens defense turned in their best performance of the season in a 35-10 win over the Buffalo Bills.

At the heart of the one-sided victory was cornerback Nate Wiggins. The 2024 first-round pick had another strong showing, tallying a pair of tackles and another pass-defended against Buffalo. Wiggins also saw a huge uptick in his playing time, as he was on the field for 86 percent of the defense's snaps.

Ravens (2-2) head coach John Harbaugh credited Wiggins' mindset and his performance in the week leading up to the game as the reason the rookie cornerback has taken a big step in his development over the last two weeks.

"That's growth – [Nate Wiggins is] just a growth guy [with a] growth mindset," Harbaugh said on Monday. "We trust our guys to learn and grow. [We] gave him an opportunity to go out there and do it again. He's been practicing really well. He and I had numerous conversations; he and [assistant head coach/pass game coordinator] Chris [Hewitt] had numerous conversations – it's just [a] natural part of football. He listens, and [he] practiced well last week and went out and played well."

Wiggins also had two tackles and a crucial forced fumble that led to a turnover in the red zone in the Ravens' 28-25 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3. Wiggins played 48 percent of the defense's snaps against Dallas.

The Ravens' defense had the Bills' offense and Josh Allen under constant duress, sacking him three times and tallying eight quarterback hits. Allen completed 16 of 29 passes and threw for just 180 yards and the entire Buffalo offense had just 236 total yards.

Harbaugh noted the secondary's ability to play man coverage and Wiggins' improvement from Week 3 was instrumental in their ability to slow down a Bills offense that was averaging 37.3 points per game heading into Sunday.

"I thought Brandon [Stephens] was really good," Harbaugh said. "I thought the things that [Wiggins] needed to do better from one week to the next, he did them. He fixed them. Marlon [Humphrey] was all over people out there. Our safeties covered well. It's good to feel like you can have confidence in playing man coverage."

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