When evaluating Ravens CB Brandon Stephens, you can't look at basic stats

As Pro Bowl safety Kyle Hamilton and cornerback Marlon Humphrey walked across the golf course, their conversation turned to their teammate, cornerback Brandon Stephens.

Stephens, a sophomore running back, defensive back and breakout cornerback for the Ravens, has developed into one of the most consistent players on the team.

“I’m just talking about B-Steve, just give him his flowers,” Hamilton said. “I think he’s one of the most underrated players in this league, not just cornerbacks.”

A quick look at the stats makes this statement sound like a teammate's bias. Stephens has given up 23 catches on 36 targets for 305 yards this season. Not bad – his catches against most ranked 18th and his yards against most ranked 11th – but not among the best.

It's just that the statistics don't tell the truth in this case.

“I think if you know football and watch it up close, you can appreciate what he does,” Hamilton said. “He’s truly one of the most technical NFL cornerbacks we have in our league.”

A closer look at the film confirms Hamilton's impressions.

Although there were a handful of plays on which Stephens made a mistake or was beaten, he also frequently fell victim to near-perfect throws and spectacular catches.

For example, look at his game against Las Vegas. Stephens had the dubious privilege of covering Davante Adams in his only superstar game for the Raiders this season. On the first catch, which Adams made for 26 yards, he simply overwhelmed Stephens on a route.

But then Stephens got tougher. On the next two big catches, Stephens stayed on Adams' hip. When Adams turned back to the ball on both plays, it looked like he was out of bounds. Stephens had his hand ready to defend a pass to one of them. With each attack, Adams managed an incredible hold followed by a quick toe tap. Stephens was otherwise solid, but those three catches went for 64 yards. The two catches on the sideline totaled 35 yards.

The same thing happened against the Buffalo Bills. Stephens stayed on top of Keon Coleman, but the big rookie came down twice on a 50-50 ball. Stephens may have contested the catch a split second late the first time around, but he was in good position. On the second, his forward momentum prevented him from turning with Coleman to contest the catch, but he was still right next to the receiver. And like Adams, it looked like Coleman was out of bounds, but his toes got in.

When you dig deeper into the stats, they back up the film. Among defenders who have been targeted at least 20 times this season, Stephens ranks third with the shortest average distance to the receiver when the pass arrives (1.7 yards). That's nearly a half-yard better than Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II, an early favorite to be named NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

Coach John Harbaugh, who was a defensive back at Miami University and coached for the Philadelphia Eagles, said that's the nature of the cornerback position. You're put on an island against great receivers. And he added that the Ravens play a lot of single-high coverage in man-to-man defense because they “don't protect our corners at all costs.”

“And Brandon, they put great receivers on him, and they threw fades on the press guy, and I think he held up really well,” Harbaugh said. “Obviously there were plays that were made, he had plays that he would like to have made again, but there really aren't many that I would look at and say, 'Hey, that's bad technique' – really none. ”

In fact, his game against the Commanders was a picture-perfect performance.

A film breakdown from Road Graders explained how Stephens shows impressive change-of-direction skills that allow him to stay on top of receivers. On a pass breakdown against Terry McLaurin, Stephens stayed with him during his releases and caught up in time to contest the catch. However, instead of playing the ball, Stephens plays “McLaurin’s hands.” There was a pass interruption.

However, on two more balls, Stephens again had his hands ready and in position to play the receiver's hands, but quarterback Jayden Daniels delivered perfect passes, followed by perfect catches from McLaurin. One scored a touchdown.

According to Next Gen Stats, McLaurin connected with Stephens on 73.3% of his 30 routes and made three of four catches for 28 yards and a touchdown against Stephens. Still, Stephens enforced a narrow window for each target, with an average target distance of 0.5 yards.

This season, Stephens has forced 50% of his targets in a tight window. That's well ahead of all NFL cornerbacks with 30 or more targets. No other cornerback has forced a tight window on more than 40% of their targets.

Football coaches on social media said Stephens needed to turn his head, and Road Graders addressed the issue by saying that Stephens appeared to be taught to focus on the receiver's hands instead of the ball.

Although Hamilton said the team needs to do a better job of catching the ball when intercepted, several players said it wasn't as easy as simply turning their heads to keep their eyes on the ball. This can lead to a higher risk of losing track of the recipient, which can result in a greater profit. It all depends on the situation, or what Harbaugh calls the “relationship.”

“I wish there was a hard and fast rule about when (to watch the receiver or play the catch point), because the problem is no two situations are ever exactly the same,” Harbaugh said. “The timing, your influence, your relationship – how far away you are, how close you are, where the ball is, when the ball gets there – all those things are different. It's probably more of a reaction as you play through your basics. We want to do a good job on the line.”

Stephens, who spoke last season about embracing the challenge of playing on an island, remains confident in his abilities and is looking forward to the next challenge.

“You have to make a perfect throw to hit me and score the (Daniels-to-McLaurin) touchdown down the sideline, it was a perfect throw, a perfect catch,” Stephens said.

Of course he is aware that there are things he can improve. He said he could be more consistent (despite Hamilton's assessment that “his technique never changes when you play in and play out”) and that there are things he can do other than hold on to his opponents to make it harder for them make to achieve victory.

Monday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers represents an opportunity for luck to turn his way on the 50-50 balls. The team's second-best receiver, Mike Evans, is 6-foot-1 and weighs 220 pounds, making him a tough opponent for contested catches. Harbaugh said the Ravens knew what they had to do to take him down.

“You're talking about a one-on-one game against Mike Evans – you have to do a good job on the line first of all, hold your position when he lets go because he's so strong when he lets go, and then get into position on the field be when he lets go.” “The ball gets there, so you have a chance to play the ball,” Harbaugh said. “You can’t play through the receiver, you can’t jam the receiver – all these different things. But you can be in the catching area in front of the receiver near the receivers to play the ball and then try to play it well.”

Stephens and his teammates need to put that into action and hope the 50-50 games go their way.

“Sometimes it just comes down to luck; Sometimes things go your way,” Hamilton said. “…And I feel like it's up to us to limit the luck factor.”

Ravens reporter Jonas Shaffer contributed to this article.