Baltimore Ravens: The Daunting Task of Replacing the Legend of Ray Lewis

As we all know, Ray Lewis’ time patrolling the middle of the field in M&T Bank Stadium and leading the Ravens into battle every week is coming to an end a year or two from now.

As age begins to catch up with him, his talent is starting to decline. But one thing that will never diminish is his fire and passion for the game of football. As the zero-hour draws near, Baltimore is faced with the insurmountable task of “replacing” their long-time field general, and arguably the best linebacker to ever play the game.

I don’t believe that Ray Lewis is a player that could ever, under any circumstances, be replaced. He brings so much more to the table than just his unmatched talent. His leadership and guidance have helped transform many young guns into perennial Pro Bowlers.

His undeniable passion to play the game of football, along with his dedication to being the best player on the field, is infectious and has, in itself, willed the Ravens’ defense to bring them many victories.

Examining this year’s draft, I don’t see any player whom could adequately fill Lewis’ role in Baltimore. Martez Wilson would be the best candidate, but many scouts are predicting him to play more of an outside linebacker role in the NFL.

Mason Foster, the consensus top inside linebacker prospect, shows the potential to eventually be a starting 3-4 ILB, but I predict to be more likely the number two inside guy, due to his lack of range and pass-rushing skills.

Also, many fans are clamoring for Casey Matthews, I think largely due to the success of his older brother, Clay. Casey does have talent, but he lacks the needed size and strength to be that number one guy.

Looking ahead to next year’s draft, I think Baltimore should fill as many of their other needs as possible this year. It may be a little too early to start predicting next year’s draft, but I think that is where Baltimore will find the heir to Ray Lewis’ throne.

I believe that Arizona State’s Vontaze Burfict can step in for Ray and not miss a beat. If Ray decides to stick around an additional year to groom his replacement, that would be even better. Although Burfict is an underclassman and hasn’t yet declared for the draft, many experts are already predicting that he will throw his name into the hat.

Vontaze Burfict came out of Centennial High School as the nation’s top inside linebacker prospect, and the number nine prospect overall. He was the prototypical middle ‘backer coming out of high school; he had the perfect blend of size, strength, and intelligence.

Both Rivals.com and Scout.com, rated him as a five-star prospect. Rivals.com also tabbed him the number two overall prospect in the state of California, as well as the best run-stopping linebacker in the nation. His ability to change direction extremely well, shed blockers, excellent blitzing ability, and ferocious tackling made him a highly sought-after recruit.

In 2009, he became the highest-ranked prospect to ever sign with ASU, choosing them over USC and many others on National Signing Day.

As a freshman, Burfict played in all twelve of the Sun Devils’ regular season games and had earned the starting middle linebacker spot by the fourth game. He finished the season second on the team in tackles with 69, 40 of which were solos.

He added seven tackles-for-loss, two sacks, and two forced fumbles. Also, he led the linebacking corps with five pass break-ups and led the team with two fumble recoveries. At the conclusion of the 2009 season, he was named Pac10 Defensive Freshman of the Year, and earned a spot on the Sporting News All-Pac-10 Freshman Team.

His sophomore season was even more impressive than his freshman year. Burfict was selected as The Sporting News Pac-10s Defensive MVP, as well as named to Phil Steele’s Midseason All-Pac10 Team. He anchored a strong Sun Devils defense with 90 tackles, including 54 solo-tackles. He also tallied 8.5 tackles-for-loss for negative 18 yards and led the team with three forced fumbles.

One-third of his tackles came against opponents ranked in the Top 15. Again, he excelled in coverage; finishing third on the team with three pass break-ups. He proved to have the “Ray Lewis Factor,” coming up big in many of ASU’s most important games of the season, including recording three of his seven tackles in OT of their Territorial Cup victory.

Showing his commitment to better himself, he garnered his first Hard Hat player award for his work in ASU’s offseason strength and conditioning program. After season’s end, Burfict was named a Sporting News First-Team All-American, becoming the first Sun Devil to earn that recognition since Terrell Suggs, in 2002, and Pat Tillman, in 1997.

Vontaze has been red-flagged by some scouts, saying that he has character issues due to penalties he’s received on-field. Most of them have been either unnecessary roughness or unsportsmanlike-taunting penalties. He isn’t a dirty player, he just plays with an unbridled passion for the game, much like Ray Lewis does. As the emotional leader of the Sun Devils defense, his play provides the fire for the rest of the team.

Seeing as how he already fulfills the same physical skill and emotional roles for his team as Ray Lewis does for Baltimore, I think he would be the perfect player to take over the reins of the Ravens’ once-vaunted defense.

Even though losing Ray would be a terrible loss to the franchise and fan base, adding Vontaze Burfict would definitely help ease the pain.