Ravens Ar'Darius Washington, 'too small' all his life, lifts an entire defense

BALTIMORE — Ar’Darius Washington remembers well the first time someone said he was too small.

A rival Pee Wee league coach boasted to Washington’s stepfather that there was no way his boys would lose to such a runt in the championship game.

“Yeah, we’re gonna see,” the Ravens safety remembers thinking. He scored three touchdowns to put the Port City Saints to bed.

Washington had no way of knowing it, but that coach’s premature assessment set a template. At every level of football, he would have to play well enough to hush those who could not see past his height.

It’s not as if he’d be the little guy in most professions. There’s no hint of weakness in his thickly muscled, 5-foot-8 frame. But as the last line of defense in an NFL secondary? No, scouts did not believe.

Underestimated is Washington’s brand, and he has chosen to embrace it.

“I definitely think that,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said when asked if his new starting safety has been nourished by difficulty. “That’s exactly right. [Ar’Darius] has probably had to overcome that his whole career — high school, college and now the pros, and it’s made him who he is. He’s been forged by all of those experiences.”

No one envisioned Washington as the savior of a Ravens defense that could not prevent explosive plays through the first 10 weeks of the season. The Ravens gave Marcus Williams $70 million to be their back-end coverage ace. He and Kyle Hamilton were supposed to form the best safety duo in the league, with veteran Eddie Jackson as a steady hand backing them up. Washington, as usual, had to scrap just to make the team out of training camp.

But the truth couldn’t be any more plain. Jackson and Williams struggled enough that the Ravens released one and the benched the other. At wits’ end after they gave up 34 points and 421 passing yards, they turned to Washington as an every-down starter, pulling Hamilton back from the line of scrimmage at the same time.

The improvement was immediate.

Over the past six games, Baltimore’s defense has transformed into one of the league’s best and one of its stingiest at allowing chunk gains. Washington has been at the heart of this metamorphosis.

In a 34-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, his hit on quarterback Russell Wilson prevented a touchdown, jarred the ball loose and sent the Ravens driving the other way for a go-ahead score. Four days later, he drilled Joe Mixon at the goal line on fourth down to prevent the Houston Texans from gaining any momentum in a 31-2 Baltimore win.

“I think it’s just his heart,” cornerback Brandon Stephens said. “He doesn’t let size be a factor of what he can’t do. The past few weeks, he’s shown it doesn’t matter, against big dudes. You can look at all the measurables you want, but what you can’t measure is someone’s heart.”

Washington remains largely anonymous to casual fans outside Baltimore, but teammates and coaches have always recognized his feel for playmaking.

“I think he’s had probably one of the hardest roles; he’s had to make the team every year in training camp,” cornerback Marlon Humphrey said. “But you ask anybody around here who’s had the best camp for three years, it’s probably AD. To come in and replace a great player like Marcus Williams, his leash was very short on mistakes if he were to make them, but man, he’s really shown up. We’ve all seen the work he’s put in over the last three years.”

To Washington, it’s a familiar story. He honed his competitive edge feeling the sting of all those dismissive words.

“You’re telling me I can’t do it because I’m too small? It pissed me off,” he said after a recent Ravens practice. “Honestly, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I go out and prove myself right, prove them wrong. I’m a seal; the water rolls right off my back.”

Washington grew up in Shreveport, La., the youngest of five siblings. He chose Texas Christian over nearby LSU and became an all-conference safety. Even then, he was overshadowed by Trevon Moehrig, who would go to the Raiders in the second round of the 2021 draft while Washington waited in vain to be picked at all.

“Washington falls well below the desired measurables for a safety,” read NFL.com’s scouting report. “But he plays with outstanding instincts and aggression in everything he does.”

Boy, had he heard that line too many times. He acknowledged that he fell into a “dark place” after he went undrafted.

Teams nonetheless coveted Washington as a free agent, and he signed with the Ravens after Humphrey and linebacker Patrick Queen called to pitch him on the fit. He made the team, only to suffer a season-ending foot injury.

His path grew no easier from there. In 2022, the Ravens cut him and signed him to their practice squad, where he remained for most of the season. In 2023, he made the 53-man roster and played well at nickel back in the first two games, only to tear his pectoral muscle. That injury kept him out until the playoffs.

No matter how much he impressed Harbaugh, no matter how consistently he stood out in the summer, he could not achieve NFL liftoff.

“After that Cincinnati game when I tore my pec, I was like, ‘Man, when am I ever going to catch a break? Am I ever going to shake this?'” Washington recalled.

At such times, he turns to his mother, Lashuma Daniels, and his older sister. They call to check on him, send flowers to brighten his days. He’s also a dad now, and his 2-year-old son can keep him going with a simple smile.

Despite the disappointment of 2023, Washington had an inkling his chance might come this year. Safety Geno Stone left for Cincinnati in the offseason, and Eddie Jackson was the only man standing between him and significant playing time.

“I made it my mission to come out here and be a starter,” he said.

He’s not only that; his partnership with Hamilton is the No. 1 reason the Ravens’ defense has been among the best in the league since that dismaying performance against the Bengals. Hamilton, the 6-foot-4 2022 first-round pick, is Pro Football Focus’ No. 2 safety through 16 games. Washington, eight inches shorter and undrafted, is No. 11.

“It’s the speed at which he plays, and he believes what he sees,” Hamilton said. “He’s fearless, lifts a ton in the weight room, jumps out the gym, great ball skills.”

All reasons why 5-foot-8 should not define a man.

For those, like Stephens, who came in with Washington, his success — he’s setting himself up to make considerably more than his $985,000 salary this season — is a joyous monument to perseverance.

“All he needed was the opportunity,” Stephens said. “He’s been hungry to be part of this defense and make a big impact. He has.”

____