This year, the rookies have carried the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens drafted a brilliant class this year, even though it didn't appear so at the time. They drafted Joe Flacco in the first round, followed by Ray Rice, Tavares Gooden, Tom Zbikowski, Oniel Cousins, Marcus Smith, David Hale, Haruki Nakamura, Justin Harper, and Allen Patrick.
Not only are a decent amount of these picks making impacts, past picks are producing. From the 2007 draft class, Ben Grubbs, Le'Ron McClain, Jared Gaither, Yamon Figurs, and Troy Smith are doing very well. I would mention all the other former Ravens draft picks succeeding this year for Baltimore, but I don't have that kind of time.
The Ravens also drafted possible future Hall of Famers Ray Lewis, Jonathan Ogden, Peter Boulware, Jamal Lewis, and Ed Reed.
Every year, General Manager Ozzie Newsome finds a jewel, a hidden gem. This year, those gems are quarterback Joe Flacco and running back Ray Rice.
Joe Flacco has amazed me with his poise. He is 136-for-220 with 1,464 yards, five touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Despite the unflashy statistics, he has led the team to a 5-3 win-loss record. He has an unflattering 75.6 quarterback rating but has a QB rating of 100 in the last three contests.
He even lit up the Pittsburgh Steelers' secondary on Monday Night Football—at Heinz Field! After a 31-3 loss to the Colts, I thought the season was over. Flacco looked like a rookie: overthrowing, throwing picks, holding the ball for too long. I thought Flacco's first three games were flukes and the Ravens would return to 5-11 or worse—and I expected the worst.
But the next week, he rebounded, as the Ravens beat Miami, 27-13. Flacco was 17-for-23, with 232 yards and one touchdown pass. He then beat Oakland, 29-10. He was just 12-for-24 with 140 yards and a touchdown pass. I know, not sexy quarterback numbers. He also rushed for 25 yards and a touchdown and caught a 43 yard pass, earning Rookie of the Week.
I know what you're thinking: This guy is trash, he's only beaten terrible teams and hasn't made any huge comebacks. He didn't change the terrible team part this week, but he made a HUGE comeback. Down 27-13 with 6:06 left in the third, Flacco didn't get nervous or intimidated.
Flacco was 3-for-4 with 35 yards on the ensuing drive and the Ravens capped the scoring drive with a one-yard touchdown run by fullback Le'Ron McClain. So it was 27-20. I know what you're thinking now, too: OK, he's going to comeback against the Browns. "Big deal".
Yes, it is a big deal. He came back to beat the Browns 37-27 in a hostile crowd at Cleveland. Flacco has shown incredible poise and is doing better than any Raven quarterback has done in a long time.
Ray Rice has done incredibly well when given the chance. Last week, he rushed for 154 yards on 21 carries and was beneficial to the victory. He had runs of 20 or more yards twice (26, 60). His ability to catch short passes and make something out of nothing is impressing the Ravens and me. Ozzie Newsome again pulled a miracle landing him.
Not only did he prove he knows what he's doing when he drafted Flacco and Rice, he proved he knows what he's doing when he landed Derrick Mason years ago. This guy has to have had the most underrated career of all time.
Last week, Mason had nine catches, 136 yards, and one touchdown, including a 28-yard touchdown that tied the game at 27. His 136 yards led all wide receivers last week. Mason has 557 yards and two touchdowns this year and is approaching 10,000 for his career (9,581). Nice movie, Ozzie. You did it again.
Who knows what's in store next year?
23 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
L.J. Burgess 8 months ago
Nice work Isaac.
My inside info says we see a whole new Ravens team next year, even Ray Ray may be gone.
You're on to something here and stated it well.
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Ron Lynn 8 months ago
Love Ozzie, he's done an amazing job but he is also the man that drafted Travis Taylor, Dan Cody, Kyle Boller and some others that haven't paned out at all. I will say his drafts are usually pretty good for adding depth to the roster but a few of the high pics (1st and 2nd round) have been busts. I wanted them to draft Joe Flacco before the draft in april but I thought they could do it the second round but then all the sudden he started rising on everyones draft board and Ozzie was able to wheel and deal to get his man without giving up to much. Also the pic of Ray Rice in the second was frowned upon by many who said "We don't need a back, we have McGahee" but Rice was so high on their draft board, someone who could have went in the late first round so when he was still around they snagged him. Looks like the Ravens back for the next 7 to 8 years could be Ray Rice
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Isaac Barrow 8 months ago
Yeah even the geniuses draft busts, but more often then not, he's gotten some good people. He also picked up Bart Scott as a UDFA. How do you find a guy from such a small school and turn him into a primier LB?
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Sean O'Brien 8 months ago
Awesome article Isaac. Ozzie has been brilliant thus far and the team has prospered because of it.
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John Lorge 8 months ago
There mixed impressions about Flacco, but I thought (and still think) he was the best QB of the draft. Ray Rice was a stud at Rutgers and it should be no surpise he's doing well. Zibby can be a special-teamer for over a decade, and could blossom into a pro-bowl safety with one big year as a starter becuase he has name recognition.
I don't think those guys were hidden gems as you state because of their college successes and Flacco's combine hype but Good article.
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Isaac Barrow 8 months ago
To tell you the truth, he's my ROY. Not just as a Raven fan, but as an NFL fan.
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James Williamson 8 months ago
I love Ozzie. Brian Billick said he thought Ozzie was like the Beautiful Mind character that looked at the draft board instead of math equations.
He's a kind of guy who may not have gotten the ring as a player, but shows he could get it as a GM.
Very Good. 5 stars and a pick.
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Paul A 8 months ago
Ray Lewis won't be gone next year, your inside info sucks. LoL, sorry man. I'm not trying to be a dick but saying your inside info says 'ray ray' may be gone is quite funny.
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Isaac Barrow 8 months ago
when did i say ray may be gone next year?
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Isaac Barrow 8 months ago
O ur talkin about LJ, I see. LJ I usually agree. But not this time. I see Ray in a Raven uni his whole career.
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Lawrence Barreca 8 months ago
Nice work Isaac. Let me just say this, Ozzie Newsome is a drafting genious. Take this past draft for example. People were criticizing him for grabbing Ray Rice in the 2nd round and what happens, Rice is turning out to be a stud and another weapon in this offense.
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Isaac Barrow 8 months ago
Yeah and he is like a close 3rd for individual rushing on the team.
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Lucky Riff 8 months ago
No doubt Newsome is a solid GM, but a genius. He has drafted some talent that has potential, but the team does not seem to improve. Since 2004, the Raven offense has an overall average rank of 22nd and the defense ranked 18th.
He does better than most, but I wouldn't call his work remarkable. I believe Ray Lewis and Ogden are the only two that are HOF material, first ballot by the way. Reed might get there if he stays healthy, but Boulware and J. Lewis are long shots at best.
Nice read!!
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Isaac Barrow 8 months ago
I forgot to mention Suggs, Dawan Landry and Haloti Ngata.
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Ron Lynn 8 months ago
Boulware isn't going to the HOF, he might have had a chance if his career hadn't been cut so short by injuries. He was a great player and one of the best pass rushers in the league for a span of 4-5 years. He demanded a double team almost every time pass rushed. Remember he's been gone for a few years and only played 8-9 years. Not many people make it in the hall only playing 8 years in the league no matter how good they were.
Jamal has a good chance to go to HOF, if you look at his numbers, if he stays healthy and has 2-3 more 1200-1300 yard seasons. He may finish his career in the top 10 in all time rushers in the NFL.
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Luke Jones 8 months ago
Lucky, where did you get your information on the defense being ranked 18th since 2004? The defense was 6th in 2004, 5th in 2005, 1st in 2006, 6th in 2007, and 2nd in 2008 to this point. You need to enlighten me on this, because I'm thoroughly confused. The offense has been pretty terrible for years, but the defense has been good to dominant for most of the last decade.
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Isaac Barrow 8 months ago
Yeah where did Lucky get that? 18th? are ya kidding me?
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Lucky Riff 8 months ago
You're correct...I got some bad information on the defense. The offense numbers are right, but defense was not. My bad.
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Isaac Barrow 8 months ago
No prob. At least you didn't edit my article! Kidding
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Ron Lynn 8 months ago
Yeah, the defense has had a decade of dominance now, pretty amazing considering how horrible the offense has been. They've been put in a lot of bad spots over the years and other than the salary cap purge year in 2002 have been in pretty much the top 5 defenses in football every year, year after year.
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Isaac Barrow 8 months ago
Yeah funny how a rookie QB from delaware can not turn the offense around, but definitely improve it.
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Dave Nemetz 8 months ago
Flacco is impressive so far, and Rice is looking good as well. The Ravens are executing well in a rebuilding process, should make Baltimore fans feel good (especially after the Kyle Boller debacle).
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Isaac Barrow 8 months ago
Yeah it looks like Boller's career in B-more is over (thank God).
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