Ravens Suffer Significant Injury Blow to Secondary
The Baltimore Ravens got a crushing injury blow on Tuesday, losing a key member of their secondary for the entire 2025 season. Tests confirmed on Tuesday that Ravens safety Ar’Darius Washington suffered a torn Achilles and will miss all of this coming season while rehabilitating the injury, according to a report by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Washington reportedly injured his Achilles while participating in the team’s offseason conditioning program.
Washington, 25, joined the Ravens as an undrafted free agent out of TCU in 2021, but first became a key contributor to the Baltimore defense in 2024. As part of some mid-season changes to the roles in the secondary brought on by senior defensive advisor Dean Pees, Washington started each of the final 10 games of the regular season for the Baltimore defense.
The 5-foot-8, 180 pound Washington found a home at free safety in the Baltimore scheme in 2024, playing 469 of his 830 total snaps in that alignment, according to Pro Football Focus.Â
After totaling 14 tackles, one for a loss, and two passes defended in his first three seasons, Washington blew those numbers away in 2024, recording 64 tackles, five TFLs, eight passes defended, two interceptions and a forced fumble. His most-productive game came in Baltimore’s loss to the Steelers in Week 11, when he had a career-high 12 tackles.
Starting Washington allowed the Ravens to move Kyle Hamilton from slot cornerback to strong safety, with Marlon Humphrey moving from outside cornerback to the slot and 2024 first-round draft pick Nate Wiggins taking over the starting role outside.
With starting outside cornerback Brandon Stephens gone via free agency, it looked like the Ravens were going to undo those moves for 2025, moving Humphrey back outside, playing Hamilton in the slot and starting 2025 first-round pick Malaki Starks, the top-ranked safety in the 2025 NFL Draft class out of Georgia, alongside Washington.
They’ll now be a man short to executive that plan, with someone like free agent outside cornerback and former Cincinnati Bengals starter Chidobe Awuzie or 2024 fourth-round draft pick T.J. Tampa required to step up to help the Ravens replace Washington.