After a year away, new Ravens cornerback Chidobe Awuzie is back in the AFC North.
It's exactly where he wants to be and, having switched uniforms to a former rival, with the team he feels has all the right pieces.
"I'm really excited," Awuzie said in a one-on-one interview with Garrett Downing on the team website. "I know this is some real dog-eat-dog world out here in this division. It's really last man standing type of football. You're gonna really fight and claw to see who's gonna win each game. It doesn't matter the person's record at the time. These games always come down to the wire. I'm excited to go against all these teams, and now being on this side of it, I think I'm on the right side."
Baltimore marks Awuzie's fourth NFL destination.
He began his career as a second-round pick of the Cowboys in the 2017 draft, spending four years in Dallas before experiencing three seasons as a Bengal.
It was in Cincinnati where he flashed the most versatility of his career, especially during a 2021 season in which he had 64 tackles, two interceptions, 14 passes defensed and four tackles for loss -- the latter three stats being career-highs. Awuzie also logged a playoff interception on Cincy's road to Super Bowl LVI, which the club lost to the Los Angeles Rams.
His play garnered a three-year, $36 million contract from the Tennessee Titans last offseason, but Awuzie saw the field for only eight games due to a groin injury and was released after just one season at the start of this year's free agency.
A few waves of signings later, Awuzie caught on with the Ravens.
"When I got released from the Titans, it took some time for me to really sit down and figure out what I wanted and where I wanted to go," he said. "The same questions I kept asking myself, the Ravens checked every box."
Baltimore also has some boxes it wants Awuzie to check, though, starting with helping to refortify the team's passing defense. Although the Ravens finished top-10 in the league in both points and yards allowed for a third consecutive time, much of that was thanks to a ferocious run D.
Their secondary was somewhat of a sieve; the group allowed 244.1 passing yards per game, second-worst in the NFL. Awuzie should factor in nicely trying to reverse that trend alongside defensive backs such as Marlon Humphrey and Kyle Hamilton.
"I'm fired up," Awuzie said. "You've got some dogs back there, people that I've watched on film. Me and Marlon came in the same year actually, the draft class, so I've been really familiar with his game. Obviously, playing in Cincinnati when I did, seeing some of these guys, how they have progressed and how they make a lot of plays on the field. … I'm excited to be around that and feed off the energy."
The biggest impediment to him making his mark might just be staying healthy -- through eight seasons, he's logged a full slate of games only once.
The corner admitted there's "a lot of things to prove" on his new squad and said he's differed his training this offseason to maximize results.
Still hunting for a Super Bowl victory, it's all in the name of winning a ring.
"I've been there when I was on Cincinnati and we lost," Awuzie said. "So, that's definitely a personal goal of mine and something that I'm going to continue to chase as long as I'm in the league."
There's likely few NFL teams he could've sided with that will provide him a better chance.
