Marlon N. Humphrey (born July 8, 1996) is an American professional football cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He attended Hoover High School, where he was named to the USA Today All-USA high school football team in 2012 and 2013. During his tenure, he won a silver medal in the 110 metres hurdles at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine. He also was named as a USA Today All-American Track and Field Team.
Humphrey played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2015 and 2016. During his stint, he intended to compete in track and football, but went on to focus just on football. In 2015, he and the Alabama football team won the CFP National Championship. In 2016, he was named to the College Football All-America Team. Humphrey was selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens, with whom he has spent his entire professional career. He earned Pro Bowl honors in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2024, and was selected as a first-team All-Pro in 2019 and 2024.
A native of Hoover, Alabama, Humphrey attended Hoover High School, where he was a three-time All-State selection. During his junior and senior seasons, Hoover went a combined 30–1, winning AHSAA 6A State Championships in 2013. Humphrey was named as a USA Today High School All-American for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Humphrey was a highly-touted five-star prospect in the class of 2014 and received nine offers from Power Five schools, including Alabama, Florida State, UCLA, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan State, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Humphrey was vocal about his preference for attending Alabama and officially visited only Mississippi, Florida State, and Alabama, officially committing to the latter on January 29, 2014.
He was rated as high as the ninth-best recruit in the country, and three major recruiting websites all listed him as a top five player at his position. Rivals.com ranked Humphrey the highest positionally, behind only Jabrill Peppers. 247Sports.com ranked him third behind Tony Brown and Adoree' Jackson, and ESPN.com ranked him fifth behind Peppers, Brown, Jackson, and Teez Tabor. Rivals and 247Sports listed Humphrey as the best recruit from the state of Alabama in his class, while ESPN ranked him second behind Bo Scarbrough.
In high school, Humphrey also competed at a world-class level in track. He won a silver medal in the 110 metres hurdles with a time of 13.24 seconds at the 2013 World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine. He lost to Jaheel Hyde of Jamaica, who established a new championship record and came .01 seconds shy of tying the World Youth Best held by Wilhem Belocian. Humphrey was also named to the USA Today All-American Track and Field Team. He still holds the State indoor track records for the 60 m (6.89), 60 m high hurdles (7.8), 400 m (48.11), and 4 x 400 m relay (3:21.76).
Humphrey intended to compete in football and track for the Crimson Tide. After redshirting his initial year in 2014, he became a starter at cornerback in 2015.
In 2015, Humphrey earned the starting cornerback job in his first game against Wisconsin. He ranked second on the team in interceptions with three during the 2015 season. Humphrey was an essential part of an elite 2015 Alabama defense earning Freshman All-American rights. The team went on to win their 16th national championship, with Humphrey recovering a key onside kick midway through the fourth quarter of the game.
Humphrey started 2016 with the team's first interception for a touchdown against USC, and started 14 games. Humphrey continued to dominate opposing receivers the rest of the season, and declared his early departure from the collegiate level for the NFL draft. He was named a first-team All-American for his performance during the 2016 season.
He attended the NFL Combine and completed nearly all of the drills, excluding the shuttle and vertical. He attended pre-draft visits with the Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, and Pittsburgh Steelers. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. ranked him as the second best cornerback prospect in the draft. Scouts Inc. had Humphrey listed as the third best cornerback prospect (23rd overall) in the draft. NFL analysts Bucky Brooks and Mike Mayock had him ranked as the third best cornerback in the draft. Jeff Legwold of ESPN ranked him as the fourth best cornerback (24th overall) in the draft. Sports Illustrated had Humphrey ranked as the fifth best cornerback in the draft. NFL draft analysts projected Humphrey to be selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
The Baltimore Ravens selected Humphrey in the first round (16th overall) of the 2017 NFL draft. He was the second cornerback to be drafted in 2017, after the New Orleans Saints selected Ohio State cornerback Marshon Lattimore (11th overall). He became the fourth cornerback selected in the first round by the Baltimore Ravens and their third highest cornerback drafted, only behind 10th overall picks Chris McAlister (1999) and Duane Starks (1998).
On May 5, 2017, the Ravens signed Humphrey to a fully guaranteed four–year, $11.84 million contract that also included an initial signing bonus of $6.75 million.
Throughout training camp, he competed against Brandon Carr for a role as a starting cornerback. Head coach John Harbaugh named Humphrey the third cornerback on the depth chart to begin the regular season, behind starters Jimmy Smith and Brandon Carr.
On September 10, 2017, Humphrey made his professional regular season debut in the Baltimore Ravens' season-opening 20–0 victory at the Cincinnati Bengals. On October 8, 2017, Humphrey earned his first career start as a nickelback and recorded three combined tackles (two solo) during a 30–17 win at the Oakland Raiders in Week 5. On November 19, 2017, he recorded three combined tackles, deflected two passes, and made his first career interception on a pass thrown by Brett Hundley to wide receiver Jordy Nelson during a 23–0 victory at the Green Bay Packers. In Week 13, he collected a season-high seven combined tackles (five solo), broke up a pass, and intercepted a pass by Matthew Stafford to wide receiver Marvin Jones during a 44–20 win against the Detroit Lions. He was promoted to starting cornerback for the last four regular season games after Jimmy Smith was placed on injured reserve after tearing his Achilles tendon. He finished his rookie season in 2017 with 34 combined tackles (30 solo), 11 pass deflections, and two interceptions in 16 games and five starts. He received an overall grade of 70.7 from Pro Football Focus in 2017.
On January 9, 2018, the Baltimore Ravens to promoted linebackers coach Don Martindale to defensive coordinator after the retirement of Dean Pees. Throughout training camp, Humphrey competed against Brandon Carr to be a starting cornerback. Head coach John Harbaugh named Humphrey the No. 1 starting cornerback to begin the regular season and paired him with Brandon Carr after Jimmy Smith was suspended for the first four games for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
On September 13, 2018, Humphrey collected a season-high seven combined tackles (five solo) during a 23–24 loss at the Cincinnati Bengals. He was inactive for two consecutive injuries (Weeks 8–9) after sustaining a thing injury. On December 16, 2018, he recorded two solo tackles, a season-high four pass deflections, and intercepted a pass thrown by Jameis Winston to wide receiver Mike Evans as the Ravens defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20–12. He finished the season with 14 games with eight starts and had a total of 37 combined tackles (31 solo), a team-leading 15 pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and two interceptions. He was given a grade of 80.0 by Pro Football Focus, which ranked 11th among all cornerbacks.
During training camp, he competed for the role as the No. 2 starting cornerback against Brandon Carr. He changed his jersey number from No. 29 to No. 44 as a show of goodwill to accommodate the newly acquired free agent safety Earl Thomas. Head coach John Harbaugh named Humphrey the No. 2 starting cornerback to begin the regular season and paired him with Jimmy Smith.