Ravens quietly building a Superline

By Darrell Laurant  |   Friday, May 18, 2007  |  Comments( 4 )

Baltimore Ravens
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Back in the 1960s and '70s, "What's My Line?" was a popular TV quiz show. At times during the Baltimore Ravens' 2006 season, it was more like "Who's My Line?"

But it all worked out. Despite a season-ending triceps injury to starting left guard Edwin Mulitalo and time lost by tackles Keydrick Vincent and Tony Pashos, younger players like Chris Chester and Jason Brown stepped in to plug the holes, as Baltimore wound up allowing just 17 sacks. The performance of the running game was more problematic, but part of that may have been that featured back Jamal Lewis had lost a step or two.

Now, based on the most recent draft, it's beginning to look as though what had been a question mark has turned into a strength.

Some of the more recent O-line additions seem to be fitting into a pattern. Both 2006 pick Chester (out of Oklahoma) and top 2007 choice Ben Grubbs (Auburn) are former tight ends who maintained much of their athleticism while putting on weight.

Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome jokingly talked about how hard it was to draft Grubbs (Newsome played at Alabama, Auburn's arch-rival), but felt the 6-foot-3, 313-pounder was the best player still on the board when the Ravens' turn came up.

One NFL scouting service said of Grubbs: "Not since the days of Alan Faneca (1995-97) at Louisiana State has a Southeastern Conference guard displayed that perfect blend of power, intensity and athletic ability that Grubbs brings to the field each week. Originally recruited as a defensive lineman, he moved to tight end during his redshirt freshman year before becoming a dominant force at the demanding left guard position for the Tigers during his last 32 games."

And it got better. In the third round, the Ravens snagged University of Iowa offensive tackle Marshal Yanda, 6-4 and 305 pounds. Like Grubbs, a small town boy who made good at a home state university (he wore an Iowa cap home from the hospital when he was born), Yanda became a YouTube star last season for a monstrous hit he put on Iowa State's Rashawn Parker while blocking for a reverse.

Even if perennial All-Pro Jonathan Ogden steps down at left tackle (which he's been threatening to do for a couple of years now), the Ravens' forward wall should continue to evolve into one of the best in the AFC, if not the NFL.

This could be the coming-out year for Syracuse product Adam Terry, a gargantuan (6-8, 330) tackle who has spent a couple of years learning how to use his enormous bulk. Yet he'll still have to beat out Vincent (6-5, 325), a former starter for both the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.

And while Mulitalo and Pashos left as free agents, their 2006 injuries turned out to be blessings in disguise because it allowed some of the second-line players to gain valuable field time.

Grubbs will probably start at guard when the season opens, along with Brown (who allowed no sacks as a University of North Carolina senior in 2004), while Ogden and either Vincent or Terry will be the tackles and veteran Mike Flynn the center. It's a nice mix of youth and experience, and it demonstrates how quickly an NFL unit can flip-flop from liability to asset.

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CommentsComments: 4  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Ramz		02:17 PM
05/18/2007
The Fact that the former offensive Coordinator Only gave LEWIS 12-15 TOUCHES A GAME BEFORE HE WAS CANNED CONTRIBUTES TO THE...
No.2
schreier		03:47 PM
05/18/2007
Adam Terry does not have to beat out Vincent - Vincent is RG while Terry is a Tackle. Terry has apparently been anoited the...
No.3
montreal fan		07:11 PM
05/26/2007
I agree with Ramz , i personnaly don t think that Willis is built for the Ravens running scheme , he tends to cut too many times...
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