Inside the Ravens’ facility, the names Ed Reed, Chris McAlister and Duane Starks mean something to the current players. There’s a certain level that the Ravens’ secondary expects to reach, cornerback Marlon Humphrey said, and last year’s 31st-ranked passing defense didn’t meet the standard.

So Baltimore rebuilt — with first-rounders. The Ravens are the only NFL team with five first-round picks in their projected starting secondary. No other team has more than three.

“I think that comes with an added expectation that we welcome,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. “We really have no excuses to not go out there and do what we need to do.”

The team signed cornerback Jaire Alexander on Wednesday morning and drafted Georgia safety Malaki Starks in the first round. Alexander, Humphrey and Hamilton have all earned All-Pro honors.

On paper, it’s one of the best secondaries in the NFL. But this isn’t just a talented group. The five projected starters and key backups possess positional versatility, which is critical in today’s matchup-based NFL.

The upgrades come at a needed time; Baltimore will look to improve from a passing defense that allowed 7.2 yards per attempt, a 91.1 passer rating and failed to force any turnovers in the playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills. Some of those numbers are inflated because of the leads the Ravens built last season, but the front office clearly “It’s going to be a fun secondary, I think guys can kind of play wherever,” Humphrey said. “The addition of Jaire, along with the other guys we got, it can be a serious matchup (based).”

Humphrey can play inside or outside, but he’s most disruptive near the line of scrimmage. An All-Pro slot cornerback in 2024, he logged over 400 nickel snaps and led all cornerbacks with six interceptions, according to Pro Football Focus. On Wednesday, a nickel blitz by Humphrey forced Lamar Jackson into throwing an interception.

Alexander’s signing allows Humphrey to play solely on the inside in nickel packages.

Defensive coordinator Zach Orr will be faced with a tough personnel decision: does Humphrey kick outside or remain on the bench in base packages? That’s a choice Baltimore’s coaching staff is glad they get to make.

“When you got corners, you don’t have to worry about your corners. And it’s kind of a big deal,” coach John Harbaugh said. “Just gives you more options with the defensive play calls.”

Alexander has played almost exclusively on the outside his entire career and Wiggins played over 90% of his defensive snaps at boundary corner in his rookie season.

But their backups, Chidobe Awuzie and Jalyn Armour-Davis, can slide around the secondary.

The embodiment of the Ravens’ versatility is in their safety duo. Hamilton is one of the most dynamic players in the NFL, playing more than 200 snaps each at three positions last year.

Starks moved around in Georgia’s defense. He played 178 snaps in the box, 225 as a slot corner and 349 at free safety last season, according to PFF.

Baltimore’s defense can get creative with various packages, defensive designs and matchups. Orr, who seems primed for a coaching leap in his second year as defensive coordinator, can play around with disguised coverages and post-snap rotations because of his players’ ambiguity.

In the offseason, former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald quoted former Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome about his drafting philosophy in the secondary. Hamilton echoed the Hall of Famer on Wednesday.

“You can never have too many DBs,” Hamilton said.

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