Fifteen minutes before the start of the NFL draft in Detroit on Thursday night, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was in the office of assistant head coach Chris Hewitt, the man in charge of leading Baltimore’s secondary, at the team’s Owings Mills facility and joked, “What if Nate Wiggins falls to us?” The prevailing laughter in the room told one story: It would never happen.
Then, as the opening round of the draft unfolded over the next 3 1/2-plus hours, it started to.
In a record, offensive players were chosen with the first 14 picks. Offensive linemen were among some of them, with more continuing to get snatched up as the night went on. By the time the Ravens, who lost three starters on the offensive line this offseason, were picking, the nine highest-rated prospects at the position were all off the board.
Meanwhile, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was texting Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta, imploring him to use the Ravens’ 30th overall pick on Wiggins, the 6-foot-1, 173-pound cornerback with elite speed and high-level coverage skills.
“This draft, we had to come out of the first round with most likely a corner or offensive linemen if we could,” DeCosta said. “I didn’t think Nate would be there for us.”
When he was, the Ravens rushed their pick to the podium, with little time having ticked off their allotted 10 minutes.
It marked the first time they have taken a cornerback in the first round since 2017, when they drafted Marlon Humphrey 16th overall. In drafting Wiggins, who turns 21 in August, they also might have found their eventual replacement for Humphrey — or at least someone who will be expected to contribute immediately.
“We’re very, very excited to draft Nate Wiggins, in my opinion, the best cover corner in the draft,” DeCosta said. “Highly athletic, fantastic feet. Really, in our opinion, a guy that can grow into being a true shutdown-type corner. Ecstatic that he fell to us.”
Wiggins, meanwhile, said that the Ravens told him they would take him if he was available at No. 30.
“It was a lot of emotions going into it, thinking I was going to go earlier and then fall to 30,” he said. “It was a lot of emotions but I’m happy to be here, man. I’m happy to be in Baltimore.”
The Ravens were likewise thrilled to land Wiggins, a player DeCosta said was among their top 13 to 20 players on their draft board, meaning that he was an incredible value at No. 30.
He also fills a major need. Outside of the offensive line, which is no longer with 2023 starting guards Kevin Zeitler and John Simpson and right tackle Morgan Moses, cornerback was perhaps their next biggest hole to fill.
While the Ravens have a solid duo on the outside with Humphrey and Brandon Stephens, along with Arthur Maulet returning for another season in the slot, Humphrey is coming off an injury-hampered season in which he played 10 games and the fewest defensive snaps (541) of his career after undergoing foot surgery last summer. Stephens performed well last season, but he was initially tabbed for safety before being pressed into cornerback duty and will be a free agent after the 2024 season.
Baltimore has no other starting-caliber cornerbacks on the outside, and Wiggins not only gives them that but provides the kind of versatility the Ravens covet as someone who will primarily play outside but can be moved around, Harbaugh said.
Wiggins is a long and athletic corner with elite speed. He had 24 career pass breakups and three interceptions, two of which came against Thursday’s third overall pick, North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye. He returned two of his interceptions for touchdowns, forced two fumbles and had a sack and a blocked field goal in 1,377 career snaps over 34 games, 18 of them starts. He also ran the second-fastest 40-yard dash (4.28 seconds) at the NFL scouting combine and his wingspan allows him to match up with bigger receivers.
“This is a guy who plays like a Raven,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick said on “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt” after the first round finished. “It means maximum effort, maximum physicality, positional versatility in guys who will run and hit. And this kid has all of that. Big, long, tall, 4.28 [seconds] in the 40[-yard dash], all the hustle plays that he had at Clemson. He can cover big guys, little guys, he can play inside, play outside, play the slot, play the corner on the outside. He will fit in perfectly at a position of need for them down in Baltimore, and I’m telling you, the Baltimore Ravens fan base will love the guy.
“He is the prototypical Raven. … It’s a home run pick for them.”
If there is a concern about Wiggins’ ability at the next level, it would be run defense. He is not the prototypical physical cornerback the Ravens covet, though he has added about 10 pounds since the scouting combine and performed well in both man and zone coverage at Clemson.
“He comes up and smacks people,” Harbaugh said. “He’s not afraid of the physical part of it at all. He’s a complete corner.”
He also became the obvious choice.
Given the depth of the offensive line class, the Ravens didn’t see any value in trading out of the first round, though DeCosta said they had about eight offers to move out of the 30th pick. Trading up didn’t make sense, either, given the steep cost and a philosophical belief against it most of the time.
With Wiggins, whom many had projected to go to Baltimore at No. 30, still available, the Ravens were happy to take him.
“It became apparent if we didn’t get a corner in the first round it was gonna be challenging to get a really good corner in the second round, third round, fourth round who could help us right away,” DeCosta said. “Getting a corner at this point like Nate was the best way we could’ve started this weekend.”
NFL draft
Rounds 2-3: Friday, 7 p.m.
Rounds 4-7: Saturday, noon
TV: ABC, ESPN, NFL Network
