Since former Hoover High School star Marlon Humphrey joined Baltimore from Alabama in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, the Ravens have won more regular-season games than every team except the Kansas City Chiefs.

Kansas City has played in five Super Bowls in that span. Baltimore hasn’t played in the Super Bowl since Humphrey came aboard.

“I’m not going to say we’ve underperformed,” Humphrey said, “but we have underperformed. I feel that we’ve had championship-caliber rosters. I feel that we’ve prepared like a championship team. And there’s just been something we got to do, but I don’t feel that we’re far off.

“I can only speak on the defense. I feel that when I first came to the Ravens, it was all about the Ravens defense, it was all about the Ravens defense, it was all about the Ravens defense. And I feel like I’ve let that standard – being here, I think, the longest defensive guy – I feel like I’ve let that standard kind of slip, and that’s something I want to get back. Obviously, we love (quarterback) Lamar Jackson. He’s a great player. But I want the Ravens’ identity to be defense like it was when I first got here, so that’s something that we’re chirping in our room. …

“We got get that back. I think that’s crucial to get that standard back, and that’s kind of all I’m thinking about as I go on this break, as you’re training. When you come back, it’s go time, and it’s all about the ball, it’s all about the ball, it’s all about the ball. And I think that’s what our defense is going to be focused on, and that’s what we’re going to do this season.”

Baltimore ended its offseason program this week. But before the Ravens went on summer break, they signed two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander after the Green Bay Packers released him in a salary dispute after two straight injury-affected seasons.

“A quote that’s never been said and probably will never be said in NFL history is, ‘We got too many corners that can cover,’” Humphrey said. “… My college DB coach (Derrick Ansley) coached him at Green Bay, so he had talked to me. He said we’re very similar. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that before – someone being similar to me – so I think he’ll fit in well.

“I don’t think it’s hard to fit in here. It’s a very easy place, I feel like, to fit in with the team camaraderie. One of the first questions he asked was, ‘Do you guys hang out?’ which is always a great thing.”

Baltimore already had added cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, an 81-game NFL starter, as a free agent and Georgia safety Malaki Starks in the first round of the NFL Draft this offseason. Last year’s first-round pick, cornerback Nate Wiggins, started six regular-season and both playoff games as a rookie.

Humphrey is a four-time Pro Bowler, and safety Kyle Hamilton has earned Pro Bowl recognition in each of the past two seasons.

“I think the options are endless,” Humphrey said about the Baltimore secondary in 2025. “With me playing a little safety, Kyle playing down, even Malaki in college, he played kind of some of that nickel position, so it’s going to be a fun secondary, I think, and just guys can kind of play wherever.

“The addition of Jaire, along with the other guys we’ve got, it can be a serious matchup. If there’s a guy that we feel that this guy can cover this guy better, we can match him up with him, and we can all pick who we want. We can have four first-round corners out there. There’s just so much that we can do. It’s really exciting.”

That versatility includes using Humphrey as the nickel corner. In 2024, Humphrey played 55 percent of his snaps in the slot.

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“When I first got out there, I think maybe my second or third year, it was something I really wasn’t very comfortable with,” Humphrey said. “But ever since I redshirted at Bama, that offseason I went into spring training and my thought process was it doesn’t really matter what position I’m asked to do, whether it’s special teams, no matter what it is, I’ll always be excited to get on the field whatever the coaches ask me to do. And fast forward to when they first asked me to do that. That third year, I was thinking in my head, ‘I don’t think this is going to work too well. But they think I can do it, so I’ll try it out,’ and it ended up working pretty well.

“And now I’ve come to like it, because corner, there’s only so much aggression you can have when you got to cover Ja’Marr Chase. You can’t be too aggressive. But nickel, you get to get in there, get in the mix and get in the trenches, as the big guys call it. I feel like I’m a smaller guy when I’m dealing with the 300-pound guy, but I try to put on my big-boy pads and do my thing.”

The Ravens’ veteran players report to training camp on July 22. Baltimore kicks off its three-game preseason schedule against the Indianapolis Colts on Aug. 7.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.