The Baltimore Ravens have largely been known
for having one of the best Defenses ever since they’ve been a franchise. Baltimore chose to name their team the Ravens
after the fans got involved in a contest that included both a phone survey and
focus groups where over 33,000 people voted between possible team names such as
Marauders, Americans, Bombers, and of course Ravens. The possible team names were originally a
list of over 100 nicknames that the NFL had presented to the public. Obviously after fans played a pivotal role
here, the name that was eventually picked became Ravens. Edgar Allen Poe’s poem that was written in
Baltimore, Maryland back on January 29, 1845, which was titled “The Raven” was
in fact the inspiration behind the NFL team’s name. As I already mentioned, this Baltimore team
had been infamous for their stifling defense which was majorly because of a few
names you may have heard of, in many people’s opinion the greatest LB to every
play the game, Ray Lewis who was the Ravens 2nd overall draft pick
as an NFL franchise. Lewis played lights
out for just under 2 decades (17 seasons) for the Purple & White tallying
978 solo tackles with a combined total of 1,343 tkl, 41.5 sk, 31 int, 17 ff, 20
fr, & 3 tds. As the most decorated
player in franchise history Ray was selected to 13 Pro Bowls, he won 2 DPOY, 1
Super Bowl MVP and 2 Championships.
Since retiring back in 2013 Ray Lewis was soon after inducted to the NFL
HOF in 2018.
Baltimore has always focused slightly more on
employing greatness on defense than the offensive side of the ball and for what
many believe to be a very good reason. I
believe it was an old college football coach Bear Bryant who first said,
“offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships.” This is exactly what Baltimore’s organization
and their fanbase have been hanging their hats on ever since the birth of the
franchise back in 1996. The Ravens later
became a franchise after the Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell reached a deal
with Baltimore to relocate their franchise there. Over the Ravens 28 year span they have had
numerous bullies on their incredible defenses, to name a few, Ed Reed, Tony
Siragusa, Adalius Thomas, Terrell Suggs, Bart Scott, Haloti Ngata, Chris McAlister,
Peter Boulware, Rod Woodson, Trevor Pyrce & C.J Mosley. Fast forward to 2024 and this trend is still
in full swing with some of the best players in the NFL on the Ravens defense. Kyle Hamilton S, Roquan Smith LB, &
Justin Madubuike DE are all fresh off their Pro Bowl nods last season. Mix in one of the best CBs Marlon Humphrey
along with skilled S Marcus Williams and that’s a recipe for a top 5 Defense in
football. Although the Ravens did just
lose their DC Mike McDonald this offseason when he signed with Seattle to
become their new HC to replace longtime HC Pete Carroll. There is a silver lining however, Baltimore
promoted their once LB Zach Orr who played with the Ravens (2014-2016), then
coached as their defensive analyst (2017-2020), & ILB coach (2022-2023) will
be their new DC. After 9 years both
playing and coaching for this franchise, he knows this defense inside out and
no doubt he will get the best out of these men.
History also says that this team hasn’t
exactly had a ton of success on the offensive side of the ball as I previously
stated. The last few seasons they have largely
showed signs of breaking out, this is mainly because of their QB who is now a
2x NFL MVP in Lamar Lackson. His
abilities as an overall player go unmatched as he is possibly the most
versatile athlete from the quarterback position the NFL has seen since the
likes of Michael Vick. Lamar can not
only throw the ball accurately deep-down field but can also take off at any
given time whether the pocket breaks down around him or if he can’t find his
man down field. He has amazing vision as
a runner and a vastly overlooked ability to avoid taking any big hits from
tacklers when he leisurely takes off at will.
With a massive addition in the offseason the Ravens may have just helped
the longevity of Jacksons career by signing arguably the best RB of the last
two decades in Derrick Henry (aka King Henry).
HC John Harbaugh along with OC
Todd Monken must be gleaming with joy knowing that they have their guy that can
take a lot of pressure off Lamar by making opposing defenses have to respect
the run even more with a true threat at RB.
Defenses will have to stack the box although it will also lead to a
whole lot more production from Lamar through the air rocketing the ball down
field. Derrick Henry has posted at least
1,000 yds rushing 5 out of his 8 years in the NFL. 2021 was an intriguing year as Henry looked
to amass 1,000 yds by the halfway point in the season before sustaining a
brutal injury in which Henry suffered a pedal foot fracture keeping him from
quite possibly breaking the all-time season record for rushing yards (2,105yds,
Eric Dickerson, 1984). It wasn’t Henry’s
first go at the record as Henry already ranks fifth on the all-time list with
2,027 yds back in 2020. One would certainly be astute to assume that Baltimore
will more than likely finish the season with the top rushing attack for the
second straight season giving the fact that Lamar alone ran for 821 yds plus
their second year elusive RB Keaton Mitchell who looked very explosive as a
rookie posting 5.1y/a on 396yds in only 8 games with only 2 games as a
starter. Mitchell was injured much of
the season, so it is only a small sample size to start his career. Nevertheless, it is still something to be
excited about for the future. Now add
King Henry’s 1,167 yds, sprinkle in a little of Justice Hill here and how can
you not claim the Ravens as the best rushing offense in football?
Lastly, I would like to touch on the
weapons outside of the RBs that Lamar will have at his disposal. First is their number one target, who is always
Lamar’s safety valve in TE Mark Andrews.
Andrews is consistently a top 3-5 option at his position, from posting
10 TDs in 2019, to recording career highs in 2021 (107rec, 1361yds, 9tds), then
catching 73 passes in 2022. Mark was
often banged up last season and his stats took an obvious dip while only
playing in 10 games. When Mark went got
hurt their back up, who I think could be a starter on a lot of other teams
stepped up snagging 30 recs, over 400yds receiving & 5 TDs. Zay Flowers is also a hot commodity now
entering his second NFL season. He oozed
talent right out of the gate last year, nearly going for 1,000 receiving yards
on 77 receptions for 5 TDs. Flowers
capped off his rookie campaign with adding 9 catches & 1 TD on 156yds in
postseason play before a huge costly fumble in the AFC Championship Game where
the Ravens hopes and dreams were shattered at the hand of the Kansas City
Chiefs & the most dominant QB in the league, Patrick Mahomes. I wouldn’t say the Ravens have a great group
of WRs right now, but they do have solid players like Nelson Agholor, Russell
Gage, Tylan Wallace, and returning starter Rashod Bateman.
Baltimore in my own opinion is one
of the most sturdily built teams top to bottom from the coaching staff to the
depth chart. I can’t help but imagine
the Ravens not getting back to the AFC Championship yet again after bringing in
even more talent in both free agency and this year’s draft. It will not be an easy task in AFC where it
essentially seemed like every team was in playoff contention until the last 2
weeks of the season last year. They also
play in the AFC North Division that had 3 teams make the playoffs last season. Inter divisional play alone against Joe
Burrow’s Bengals, Cleveland Browns & the Pittsburgh Steelers is quite a
challenge. This is most definitely the
toughest division in football right now and I can’t wait to see if this ends up
being the first division in NFL history to have all four teams advance to the
playoffs. I don’t know about you, but I’m
sure ready for some football.
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