Isaiah Likely Has Gone From Basketball to Baller

Thanks to basketball, deceptive athleticism, and a fiery competitiveness, Isaiah Likely has become a top baller in the Ravens’ offense.

Isaiah Likely’s college coach, Jamie Chadwell, had an inkling that the tight end he lured from New England to Coastal Carolina might be special.

There was one problem. It seemed like every time Likely rose over his defender like a wave at the top of its crest, a crash followed. He was a big kid with unreal leaping ability, but he couldn’t land. And the way he ran was a little funky, too.

“He’d go up and make a catch over the middle and you’re like, ‘Oh my!’ And then he’d land and be hurt for whatever amount of days,” Chadwell said. “We laugh about it now because, obviously look at him, he can go up and do almost anything.”

No matter how it looks, Likely is a baller. In his third NFL season, he’s turned into one of the Ravens’ most dangerous weapons and Lamar Jackson’s most trusted targets.

When Jackson needed someone to make a play Sunday in Cincinnati after stiff-arming a defender twice and scrambling to the sideline, he tossed a jump ball up to Likely, who was double covered. Likely rose up and came down with it, the second of his two touchdowns to help the Ravens score a wild 41-38 overtime win.