Ed Reed in his prime was a sight to behold. Seemingly capable of covering the entire field with his incredible speed and instincts, Reed was possibly the greatest safety in NFL history. And though he’s no longer on an NFL team, I appreciate him so much more every day simply by virtue of the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive struggles.

As more informed Ravens fans will know, the Ravens currently run a base Cover 3 defense that emphasizes defending the deep ball. With the Ravens mediocre talent in the secondary outside of Jimmy Smith and Lardarius Webb (when healthy), defensive coordinator Dean Pees seems willing to allow the short pass if it means limiting big plays.

Ignore the fact that this plan has backfired, as the Ravens are schematically unable to defend short passes yet have still struggled against the deep ball. Though the plan hasn’t worked, it was logical.

Even though I hate the conservative play calling, I understand it. But wasn’t the Ravens’ defense more fun to watch when opponents had to fight for every yard? Looking back, Ed Reed was perhaps the single biggest reason for that.

In Reeds’ prime, the Ravens were able to play a lot of press man, an aggressive form of coverage that is deadly when paired with a strong pass rush, but is susceptible to the deep pass without a great safety,

What Ed Reed did was single-handled take away that susceptibility to the deep pass. Having talented corners like Chris McAlister and Samari Rolle helped, but it was Reed who made the difference. If a corner was beat (with guys like Frank Walker, Fabian Washington and Corey Ivy, that was going to happen), Reed still made the quarterback think twice about throwing a deep ball.

True centerfielders like Reed are rare, perhaps once-in-a-generation players, but there are knockoffs all around the NFL. Look at Seattle’s secondary, where Earl Thomas‘s range allows the Seahawks to play a much more aggressive Cover 3 than the Ravens.

I need to watch more tape of Will Hill before I can vouch for him, but as of this writing, he is the secondary’s only hope. With Darian Stewart and Matt Elam, two zone-challenged safeties, on the back-end of the defense, Pees will continue to play that conservative, off coverage that fans have grown to loathe.

But if Hill proves to be the centerfielder fans hope for, Pees can allow Jimmy Smith to play his more comfortable press man coverage, which should vastly improve the pass defense.

This is all speculation of course, but it serves to make a greater point. Ed Reed was truly a special player, and the Ravens secondary’s helplessness without him has proven that as much as his own career did.