Last year, cornerback Keyon Martin became the latest undrafted free agent to make the Baltimore Ravens’ 53-man roster — joining a lineage of UDFAs over the last several decades who did the same. Martin’s standout performance in training camp and the preseason vaulted him ahead of other bubble candidates to earn a roster spot.
During the 2025 regular season, Martin appeared in 13 games with one start. He played 143 total defensive snaps while maintaining a core special teams role. He was targeted 15
times and ceded only 49 receiving yards and a pass rating of 65.7 when targeted.
Despite now having a year of pedigree in Baltimore under his belt, Martin entered this summer squarely on the roster bubble once again. The Ravens re-signed Chidobe Awuzie in free agency, drafted Chandler Rivers and were returning two 2025 draft picks who missed the entire season last year due to injury — Robert Longerbeam and Bilhal Kone. After their four primary cornerbacks on the depth chart, a fierce competition between Martin and several others for the final spots was set to unfold.
Flash forward to today, over a month into training camp and one preseason game down, and Martin is rightfully on his way to earning a roster spot again.
Martin has made splash plays throughout training camp, including multiple interceptions against Lamar Jackson. In the Ravens’ win over the Philadelphia Eagles last week, Martin was the team’s most impactful defensive player. He recorded two tackles for loss, one sack, one quarterback hit and four combined tackles, all of which led the team.
At 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, Martin’s size limits him to playing primarily in the slot. However, his skill set is ideal for the nickel position, as he possesses good instincts, closing speed and playmaking ability. The nickel spot on defensive is of utmost importance in today’s NFL where offenses play a lot of spread formations and multiple-wide receiver sets.
Martin compares similarly to Rivers in terms of size and position. Rivers too has flashed this summer, and the Ravens rarely cut ties with a mid-round draft pick immediately after drafting them. Martin is forcing the Ravens hand again, however, and they may just have to harbor two exclusive slot cornerbacks on the roster.
Like Rivers, other backend cornerback options like Kone, Longerbeam and Marquise Robinson have also put together solid training camps and preseason debuts. Martin is just exceling to a higher degree. If his performance continues to climb over the next two weeks, the Ravens will still have a difficult decision to make at cornerback in finalizing their roster — but Martin will not be an exclusion.
