A solid secondary from the Baltimore Ravens could be even better in 2020 with the return of the Tavon Young nickelback.
Young missed the entire 2019 campaign after suffering a neck injury in practice. The Ravens expect the 26-year-old to be complete when the training camp opens.
“He looks healthy on the computer,” defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale said last week via the team’s official website. “He says he’s in good health. He is ready to go. Tavon is ready to go, and if he tells me he is ready to go, I believe in him 100%. And he’ll be ready to go, so I’m excited about it. “
The Ravens signed Young for a three-year contract extension in February 2019, valued at $ 25.8 million, making it the highest-paid nickel coin back then. When in good health, Young showed his talent as a playmaker in high school, recording 36 tackles, two sacks, one interception and five break breaks, and scoring two touchdowns in a fumble recovery in 2018.
Health, however, was the bugaboo of the former fourth-round pick. Young missed the entire 2017 campaign with a torn ACL suffered during the OTAs. In 2018, he battled a sports hernia that kept him away from the team’s playoff defeat and underwent interseason surgery. Then he missed all of 2019 with a neck injury.
Martindale’s optimism about Young’s return agrees with coach John Harbaugh’s positive outlook around the corner in January, when he noted that Young was expected for OTAs and other off-season training. Obviously, he was not on the field for training this spring, but the schedule is unchanged as we head to training camp.
A healthy youth could improve an already strong high school. With Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters as outside corners, Young would offer versatility at the nickelback position as a player who can cover receivers and blitz from the slot and is not afraid to step up the race.
