Baltimore Ravens: Grading the Tony Jefferson Signing

The Baltimore Ravens are not typically huge free agent spenders, instead choosing target lower tier guys in order to gain compensatory draft picks.

However, once in awhile they tend to come out of nowhere and surprise people. That was the case when word filtered out there secured the services of young safety Tony Jefferson. This despite the fact that the 25-year old had received a substantially bigger offer from the division rival Cleveland Browns. His addition joins Eric Weddle on the back end of the defense, giving the Ravens one of the most intriguing safety tandems in the NFL.

Jefferson is in fact an ideal compliment to Weddle. Where the older veteran is a classic free safety known for playing deep coverage and preventing big plays, Jefferson makes his living down in the box. He’s an excellent strong safety type who plays the run, can blitz but still has the athleticism to hang in coverage against certain receivers and tight ends. Last season he flourished for 96 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles.

He’s the kind of chess piece that can be moved around the board to create matchup problems. Let him be aggressive and he’ll do some really good things. Drop him in coverage too often and it might create an issue.

Grade:  A

For a team that didn’t have a ton of money to spend at the beginning, the Ravens made the absolute most out of it. Jefferson was widely considered one of the top defensive free agents available. Adding him to a unit that was among the league best in 2016 can only be called a win. He’s still very young and has his best seasons ahead of him. If Baltimore can bolster their aging pass rush, they’ll be in business for this coming year. Classic Ozzie Newsome at his best.