The Baltimore Ravens are entering their 20th season in Maryland, and that makes this a good time to assess the overarching success of the franchise's move to Baltimore. With ten playoff appearances and two Super Bowl championships to the team's credit, the Ravens have had their share of impact talents who've donned the team's distinctive purple and black. These are the very best of those game-changers. Here's our list of The 8 Best Players In Baltimore Ravens History.
8. OG Marshal Yanda
Yanda is widely regarded as the best right guard of the past half-decade, and his three-word motto, "Embrace The Grind," played a pivotal role in the team's bumpy season-long run to victory in Super Bowl XLVII. The ultimate team-first player in an era of professional football that celebrates the individual, Yanda is the second-best offensive lineman in the team's history (more on #1 later...).
7. FS Rod Woodson
Woodson's star may have ignited in Pittsburgh, but it was his four seasons in Baltimore that cemented him claim as a no-doubt Hall of Famer. Inducted in 2009, Woodson was one of the key cogs of the Ravens' world-beating defenses of the late 90s/early aughts, along with playing an invaluable mentor/leader role for Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and other then up-and-comers on the defense.
6. QB Joe Flacco
Flacco will always have his detractors, but there's no denying just how clutch he's been for the franchise over its past seven seasons. Of the team's ten playoff appearances, six have come with Flacco at the helm -- two of which ended in the AFC Championship game, and one which ended in a Super Bowl parade. Two Ravens players have been won a Super Bowl MVP award: Flacco and Ray Lewis. Say what you will about his sometimes uneven regular-season performance...it hasn't mattered when the chips are down.
5. RB Jamal Lewis
No skill-position talent in the history of the Ravens has done so much in such a short span of time with the franchise (2000, 2002-06) as Lewis did. He may have been productive in his final three seasons with the Cleveland Browns (2007-09), but he was a bona fide superstar in his six seasons in Baltimore -- averaging 1,300 rushing yards and 7.5 rushing touchdowns a season, along with posting one of just seven 2000-yard rushing seasons in NFL history (2003).
4. OLB/DE Terrell Suggs
Lesser players would have shrunk in the shadow left behind by greats Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Suggs is not a "lesser player." The 2003 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and 2011 AP Defensive Player of the Year is destined for Canton thanks to his tireless work ethic and undeniable physical gifts. That special mixture of effort and talent has helped Suggs set all-time Ravens records for career sacks (106.5) and forced fumbles (29). Truly one of a kind, the dean of Ball So Hard University is a true Raven through and through.
3. FS Ed Reed
One of the greatest defensive backs to ever lace up a pair of cleats, the 2004 AP Defensive Player of the Year is the all-time NFL leader in interception return yardage (1,541). One of the most purely dynamic defensive players of the modern era, Reed deserves and and all superlatives and praise that has come his way over the years.
2. OT Jonathan Ogden
The first-ever Baltimore Ravens draft pick was the first-ever Raven to be named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In addition to his impressive list of firsts, Ogden had no equal when it came to the level of play he exhibited for the franchise from 1997-2007. Appearing in the Pro Bowl after each of those 11 seasons, Ogden deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with the greatest offensive linemen in NFL history.
1. MLB Ray Lewis
If all the aforementioned player are the key body parts that have made the Ravens go over the years, Lewis is the blood that continues to run through the veins of the franchise. No Baltimore Ravens player has been as utterly and consistently dominant as the two-time AP Defensive Player of the Year, and no Ravens player has embodied the workmanlike nature of Baltimore with the same passion and spirit. The centerpiece of the greatest single-season defense in the history of the NFL (200), Lewis' 17-year career will likely go unparalleled for decades to come.
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