Promotion of Veteran Cornerback Triggers Ravens Fans

Todd Olszewski/Getty Images Baltimore Ravens cornerback Kevon Seymour.

On Saturday Oct. 1 the Baltimore Ravens made three roster moves in advance of Sunday’s showdown with the 2-1 Buffalo Bills.

Headlining the list of moves was the promotion of cornerback Kevon Seymour to the 53-man roster.

It’s a move that was met with derision by Ravens fans.

In fact, after Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic tweeted out the news, one Ravens supporter posted the tweet to Ravens Reddit with the headline: “Jeff, I was trying to enjoy my Saturday.”

That inspired a stream of comments, with “About to Seymour blown coverages” being a representative example.

“Ravens like their corners the way I like my toast apparently,” quipped another.

“This is exactly what we needed to beat the Bills laugh that turns to sobs,” wrote yet another.

Kevon Seymour is a Former 6th-Round Pick of the Bills

Of course, Ravens fans are reacting to what they saw from Seymour last season, when the 28-year-old was part of an injury depleted secondary and appeared in nine games, making two starts along the way. All told he was credited with 25 tackles, including three tackles for loss, one sack, one quarterback hit and one pass defensed (as per Pro Football Reference), having played through hamstring and quadriceps injuries.

But Seymour has been in the league since 2016, when the Bills selected him No. 218 overall out of USC.

He played in 15 games for the Bills as a rookie before getting traded to Carolina in exchange for a 2019 7th-round pick in early September of 2017.

After appearing in 16 games for the Panthers he spent the entire 2018 season on injured reserve, having had both labrums repaired that year. Then a torn hamstring and a left wrist injury kept him from playing in 2019, leaving his career very much in doubt.

Seymour finally saw regular-season action again in 2020 — two games with the Philadelphia Eagles — before joining the Ravens last year. This summer he battled for a spot on Baltimore’s 53-man roster but suffered an injury in the preseason finale and found himself on the practice squad.

As noted by the aforementioned Jeff Zrebiec, Seymour figures to see most of his action against the Bills on special teams. Last season he played a total of 247 snaps on defense and 159 snaps on special teams.

Ravens Elevate Brandon Copeland, David Sharpe

Meanwhile, on Saturday the Ravens also elevated two practice squad players for the game against the Bills, including outside linebacker Brandon Copeland.

Copeland signed to Baltimore’s practice squad on September 21 and registered a sack in his first game with the Ravens — his first sack since 2019, when he was with the New York Jets. Copeland played 39% of the defensive snaps against the Patriots and could play even more against the Bills, if Justin Houston (groin) isn’t ready to suit up.

The Ravens also elevated offensive tackle David Sharpe, 26, a former 4th-round pick of the Raiders who appeared in three games for the Ravens in 2021. Sharpe figures to serve as the top reserve at offensive tackle, assuming Ronnie Stanley (ankle, questionable) and Patrick Mekari (ankle, doubtful) aren’t able to go.