Ravens’ Nate Wiggins was back at his best against the Browns
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Baltimore Ravens
- Wiggins put a tough game against the Bills behind him: The second-year cornerback didn’t fare well against Josh Allen and company, but he made his mark against the Browns in Week 2 with an interception and two forced incompletions.
- The former first-rounder is on track for a career-high PFF coverage grade: Wiggins’ stellar day in coverage has him in line for an elite PFF coverage grade on a team-high 69 defensive snaps.
- The Baltimore Ravens bounced back with a 41-17 win over the Cleveland Browns: Dive into the PFF game recap for advanced stats, snap counts, early player grades and more!
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Sunday Night Football against the Buffalo Bills gave the Baltimore Ravens’ secondary much to think about — largely stemming from the unit’s inability to stop quarterback Josh Allen from engineering an otherworldly fourth-quarter comeback through completion after completion.
Nearly every Ravens coverage defender took their lumps as the game’s eventual 41-40 outcome came into focus. Among them was second-year cornerback Nate Wiggins, who faced seven targets and was responsible for six catches and 78 receiving yards to a slew of Buffalo receivers.
The 2024 first-round pick was coming off a promising rookie campaign, surrendering no more than five catches in a game. He finished the regular season with a 50% catch rate allowed — the fifth-best rate among 127 qualifying cornerbacks. In the end, his 70.7 PFF overall grade in the regular season placed him right with the likes of Quinyon Mitchell and Kamari Lassiter as highly touted first-year coverage players.
Week 1 of 2025 was a clear step back for Wiggins. But Week 2 was two steps forward.
The Ravens took on the Cleveland Browns and a 41-year-old Joe Flacco — an admittedly far less terrifying prospect than Allen — and Wiggins put together perhaps his best NFL performance yet.
He logged an elite 91.2 PFF coverage grade after the game’s initial review, a career high if it holds. While an interception of an errant Flacco pass fueled that grade, Wiggins held his own every step of the way. He gave up four catches on eight targets for just 15 yards, adding two forced incompletions for good measure.
The three Browns wide receivers to see passes into Wiggins’ coverage — Jerry Jeudy, Isaiah Bond and Cedric Tillman — combined for one catch and four yards on five targets.
As the fourth quarter wore on in the 41-17 thrashing of the Browns, it became clear that the Ravens were in the driver’s seat. The same sentiment seemed true last week, too, but a loss unfathomably followed. This week, Wiggins helped close things out. He blew up a short pass attempt to Jerome Ford with less than seven minutes remaining to force a fourth down and record his second stop, the final highlight of a career day.
