Going into the 2024 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens didn’t expect former Clemson star cornerback Nate Wiggins to still be on the board by the time the Ravens’ first-round pick came up.

But fortunately for the Ravens, Wiggins slipped to them, and they snatched him up with the 30th overall pick.

Baltimore is certainly happy to have him, especially after his strong rookie season last year.

“Nate grew so much, man. He grew so much,” Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr said recently.

“I’m shocked that he dropped to 30. I remember he came on his (pre-draft) visit. We told him, like, ‘Look man, I doubt you’ll be there at 30. But if you’re there, we might have to move some furniture to make sure that you’re a Baltimore Raven.’ But everybody was on the same page, and we got him. So, we knew he was talented. Knew the football character, that he loved football, competitor, he was going to be a heck of a player.”

Wiggins saw his role steadily increase throughout last season, and by season’s end, he established himself as a quality starter.

After limited playing time in the early going, and some struggles with penalties, Wiggins continued to improve over the course of the campaign as he got more and more comfortable as an NFL corner.

By the time the postseason rolled around, Wiggins had carved out a significant role in the Ravens’ secondary and was playing really well while seeing plenty of action on the field.

“There’s always a learning curve for a rookie when they come into the league, especially at that position,” Orr said. “He’s out there at the outside corner position. You’re on that island. A lot of times you’re going to end up being on a lot of top receivers. … He understood the speed of the game. He was able to adapt to the speed of the game and how important technique was, how important you have to play with technique every single play. Like, all of us, if you played college football, if you make it to this level, nine times out of 10, you were better than the man across from you, so you can get away with a lot of different things.

“But it’s like every rookie, he saw that I can’t slip on my technique because no matter how talented I am, the quarterbacks are too good, the receivers are too good that I’m either going to get called for a flag or I’m going to give up a play. And once he realized that and he honed in on the technique, he got better and better every single week, and that started in practice. That started in practice, in the classroom. He got better every single week, and you really started to see it down the stretch.”

In 15 regular season games, Wiggins tallied 33 tackles, 13 passes defended, a forced fumble and his first career interception – a pick-six in Baltimore’s Week 18 win over the Cleveland Browns. The former first-team All-ACC selection added six more tackles and a quarterback hit in two playoff games.

With his length, speed, athleticism and outstanding coverage ability, the future looks bright for Wiggins after a promising rookie campaign during which he flashed his potential.

Now, the Ravens are looking for Wiggins to make a major leap in Year 2, and they’re expecting big things – very big – from him in 2025.

Orr made a bold statement about Wiggins heading into the upcoming season.

“He was really lock down for us. He’s a big piece of our team, our defense going into Year 2, and we expect him to be one of the best corners in the National Football League,” Orr said.

“We expect him to take that jump from Year 1 to Year 2, a real big jump, and he has the ability and the talent to do it. So along with him, we have to help him get him there, and I’m confident we’ll do that.”