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Thursday, May 19, 2011
Considering that the Baltimore Ravens have only been around for 15 years now, the team does not have a lot of history. Despite this, they are still a terrific franchise with some terrific players (Ray Lewis, Ed Reed). Besides in 15 years the Ravens have won more Super Bowls then the San Diego Chargers, who have been around for 51 years. Lets get it started already.
The Ravens have only had three head coaches in their short history, so choosing the best one was not that difficult. Brian Billick was hired in 1999, only the third year of the Ravens entire existence. In his career in Baltimore, Billick went 85-67. Including a 5-3 playoff record. Despite being a young team, the Ravens went 8-8 in Billick's first season which was their first non losing season in franchise history. Billick's second season was even better for Baltimore. He led the team to a 12-4 playoff record and their first ever playoff birth. In the playoffs, Billick put the Ravens on lockdown. He would not let any player use the term "playoffs" or "Super Bowl" which helped them get focused on the real prize, a Vince Lombardi trophy. The Ravens rode on Billick's focus and also one of the best defenses in NFL history right to Super Bowl XXXV. The team only gave up 165 points in the regular season, which is still an NFL record. In probably the biggest Super Bowl thrashing in the past decade the Ravens beat the New York Giants 34-7. After winning the Super Bowl, Billick enjoyed some playoff success, but was unable to get back to the big game. When Billick was fired from the Ravens, owner Steve Bisciotti said it was a hard decision to make. For good reason to, Billick is a great coach and the best one in Ravens history.
If you want to try and argue against Ray Lewis as the best Raven of all time, go right ahead, but you will lose pretty quickly. Lewis was chosen by the Ravens 26th overall in the teams very first draft. Lewis was also the fifth linebacker taken in that draft, and the best one by far. In his hall of fame career, Lewis has been elected to 12 Pro Bowls, has seven first team all pro selections, and was voted the MVP of Super Bowl XXXV. In Lewis' rookie season, he led the team in tackles with 110. In his sophomore season, Lewis was elected to his first ever Pro Bowl, undoubtedly, it would not be his last. Every year in Lewis' career has been great, but I would think that his best season was in 2000. Lewis led what arguarbly was the best defense in NFL history (which held their opponents to only 10.3 points per game). On top of that, Lewis won Super Bowl MVP, Defensive Player of the year, was an All-Pro selection, and was voted to the Pro Bowl for a 4th consecutive time. If you want to know how much this guy means to the Ravens defense, just look at the 2002 season. Lewis was stopped by a season ending injury that year and Baltimore's defense was ranked 19th. Amazing how much one guy means to a team and how Lewis keeps fighting year in and year out. Whats not amazing, Lewis is the greatest Baltimore Raven ever. Click here to look at Lewis' stats.
It's all about defense for the Ravens, so it is no suprise that their biggest draft gem in franchise history is a DE. Despite having only 89 tackles his first three years, Thomas was a big part of the Ravens Super Bowl XXXV squad his rookie season. Thomas not only shined on defense, but on special teams as well. In 2003, Thomas was recognized for these talents as he was voted to his first Pro Bowl. Thomas might of been placed on the injured reserve list that season, but led the team with 23 special team tackles. In 2004, Thomas was finally able to start all 16 games for the first time in his career. That year was by far the best year for Thomas. He had 72 tackles, four force fumbles, five passes defended, an interception, and eight sacks. 2005 was a very interesting year for Thomas to say the least. It was interesting due to the fact that he saw time at CB. In his last year with the Ravens, Thomas was voted as a first team All-Pro (the only one in his career), had 106 tackles, and 11 sacks. Both were career highs. Despite only playing six seasons in Baltimore, Thomas is the biggest Ravens draft gem considering he was a sixth round pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. Look at Thomas' stats right here.
With QB's in the draft, you either hit or miss, there is no in between. Kyle Boller was a miss for the Ravens. Boller was picked 19th overall in the 2003 draft. Before Joe Flacco arrived, Baltimore had great unstablility at QB. Boller was supposed to be the guy who drove the ship in the right direction, but instead drove it right into an iceberg. Boller's rookie campaign actually didn't go that badly. The Ravens started 5-3, but Boller got injured and was out for the rest of the season. Overall in his rooke year, Boller went 116-124, had 1,260 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions. The following year Boller started all 16 games, which would be the last time in his career. Again, Boller did not have that bad of stats. He completed 55% of his passes for 2,559 yards, 13 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. The Ravens were considered contenders in 2005 and people saw Boller "coming into his own." Of course it didn't happen as Boller was injured and the Ravens had a very poor season. In 2006, the Ravens traded for Steve McNair and he was declared the starter. It all went downhill from their for Boller. In the 2003 draft, the Ravens really didn't miss out on any superstar QB's. What they did miss out on were future Pro Bowlers like Larry Johnson, Nnamdi Asomugha, and Dallas Clark. Click here to look at Boller's stats.
This is the second straight time that a team was affected by the draft in the "History of the Franchise" series. Of course, the Ravens were more positively affected by it then the Falcons. The '96 draft was the first one in Ravens history. With their first ever selection, Baltimore selected offensive tackle Jonathon Ogden from UCLA. With another first round pick, the Ravens selected Ray Lewis from Miami. Since I have already talked enough about Lewis, I will focus on Ogden. In his 11 year career, Ogden was a nine time all-pro and an eleven time Pro Bowler. Ogden was able to earn trips to Hawaii through his whole career except for his rookie season. Ogden won Super Bowl XXXV with the Ravens and then retired in 2008. At the end of his career, Ogden left the NFL as one of the tallest players. To look at Ogden's stats click here. Both Lewis and Ogden are future hall of famers and considering the Ravens selected them in the same draft defined who they are as a franchise.
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