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The Baltimore Ravens took a huge punch to the gut on Thursday, when they lost two more important players to season-ending injuries.
Gus Edwards and Marcus Peters are both feared to have suffered a torn ACL in consecutive plays, which brought the practice to a halt. Losing two starters in two plays for the whole season certainly hurts a lot for the Ravens, and they should be looking for answers as quickly as possible.
Edwards is easier to be replaced with the way that Baltimore's offense is designed, but Peters' talent is undeniable, and his aggressiveness is key to Don Martindale's defensive scheme that led the NFL in blitzes over the last two years. Replacing Peters will be a much tougher task, especially with the Ravens' season starting in just four days.
Baltimore is a team competing for a Super Bowl berth and they can't take any risks with the position, so they would be better suited signing a veteran cornerback. Of all the available names, Richard Sherman is the best known.
Would Sherman be a good replacement to Marcus Peters?
Sherman would not fit well in Martindale's defense
The way Martindale schemes his pressures and his coverages, aggression is key in everything that Baltimore does defensively.
The defensive coordinator used blitzes in 44.1% of the defensive snaps last year, which see five- or more players pressuring the quarterback in his dropbacks. The problem with this kind of system, of course, is that you have fewer people to defend the pass if the quarterback is able to throw the ball, and there's a lot of man coverage needed on those plays as well.
Sherman is not best suited to play man coverage for a large portion of snaps. He never was, not even in his best days, and that's a problem, as he was the best cornerback in the NFL for two years because of his adaptability and athleticism in Seattle's cover 3.
Playing man coverage is tough though, because there's almost no help in your coverage, and if the receiver gets separation, you lose the rep. That's why the best corners in the league are always traveling with the number one receivers: because they can play man coverage against elite opponents without being a liability. Sherman can't do this in 2021.
Sherman is now 33, coming from an injury-plagued season, and he's not as fast or agile as in his days in Seattle. He can still play at a high-level in a heavy-zone scheme, but he surely would have a tough time being a productive player with the Ravens.
There's also the money issue, where Sherman would certainly be a costly signing even so close to the season, and the Ravens are cap-strapped as of now. The veteran had a $13 million per year deal with the San Francisco 49ers.
