Best d-line Ravens ever had?

**AirFlacco** · 08-19-2013, 11:19 PM

According to Mikie Prestone it could be. It has more speed, size, depth and
versatility than the championship team.

Yea but better than the SB 35 line of Adams, Goose and McCreary?
I don't think so.

But they're just getting things together and in sync and as Canty says
don't worry about the run D and it could become one of the best d-lines Ravens
ever had.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/r...,253978.column

**GaTechRavens** · 08-20-2013, 12:04 AM

Yeah, 2000 is basically impossible to top. As is 2006, for that matter.

**Bigfish** · 08-20-2013, 12:32 AM

Adams, Goose and McCreary were all FAs. Ozzie had a hot hand right out of the chute.

**AirFlacco** · 08-20-2013, 03:19 AM

McCreary and Adams both played in Seattle. Mike was a 7th round draft choice. He signed
with Ravens and heard Ozzie was looking for another lineman and said that he buddy
Sam might come here and he did. That's the way I remember it. I think Ozzie wanted
someone before Mike and he signed somewhere else so he got Mike and Sam. Marchibroda
brought Goose over from Indy when he was a FA.

During the SB run in OAK Mike hit Gannon and hurt his shoulder and mentioned it in the
huddle and Goose finished him off. He couldn't throw at all after that. Goose was fined too
for $10,000 for jumping up and down on the shoulder, an obvious attempt to knock him
out. Art said he'd pay the fine but I don't know if he ever did as financially strapped as
he was and sold to Bisciotti.

Goodell probably had a heart attack watching-lol.

Here's the hit. I'm sure Gannon wouldn't agree with Mikie that this line is the best ever
Ravens line ever.

Take a look. OUCH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C__R2dGa6qs

**AirFlacco** · 08-20-2013, 03:30 AM

Originally Posted by GaTechRavens

Yeah, 2000 is basically impossible to top. As is 2006, for that matter.

That's another SB we should have won but the coach blew it. Man, Ozzie should have about
4 or 5 more rings that his coaches screwed him out of, damn it. Billick refused to run Jamal in 2d half after Jamal pleaded with him.

Even in 03, Phil Savage said Billick blew the POs with 8 pro bowlers we gave him.

**Trackmaster** · 08-20-2013, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by AirFlacco

That's another SB we should have won but the coach blew it. Man, Ozzie should have about
4 or 5 more rings that his coaches screwed him out of, damn it. Billick refused to run Jamal in 2d half after Jamal pleaded with him.

Even in 03, Phil Savage said Billick blew the POs with 8 pro bowlers we gave him.

I don't think that we were going very far in '03 with Boller as QB and no WR's to throw to. Plus, the Patriots were in beast mode that year.

**GaTechRavens** · 08-20-2013, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by Trackmaster

I don't think that we were going very far in '03 with Boller as QB and no WR's to throw to. Plus, the Patriots were in beast mode that year.

Seriously, he can't just take any year when the team looked promising but choked in the playoffs and say we "should" have won the Super Bowl that year. There were teams who were legitimately better than us every year we failed to win the Super Bowl - and I'm not just talking about the teams that won it all in our place.

**AirFlacco** · 08-20-2013, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by Trackmaster

I don't think that we were going very far in '03 with Boller as QB and no WR's to throw to. Plus, the Patriots were in beast mode that year.

True but we still could have beat them with our defense.
Boller was injured for the POs. He started the first 9 games of the season, going 5–3, before being injured (thigh) in a game against the St. Louis Rams. He was inactive for most of the rest of the season, being replaced by backup Anthony Wright, as he also had to have surgery to repair a muscle in his quadriceps.

Wright had Marcus Robinson, a decent WR, who was open in the end zone right in front of me but WRight couldn't get him the ball. He did hit Heap for a TD with 4:36 remaining in the game. Wright was injured too.

It took Tenn all of 60 mins to win the game as they finally went ahead with less than a
min left on a 46 yd FG. Eddie George got his balls back running by Ray but he was injured too but we still should have won that game. George was also injured with a
dislocated shoulder. We also lost those big dudes like Adams and Goose and had an under-sized line that Eddie ran over, around and thru but we still got into the POs with still
one of the stiffest lines vs the run..

And don't forget when the RAvens went the entire month of October w/o a TD in 2000 and they still won the SB. That line kept them in the games and Billick gave the game ball to the punter and said he was our best offense during that stretch.

This line is still gonna need JOe to score 28-30 pts to win a game ala the SB.

**leachisabeast** · 08-20-2013, 03:47 AM

This is a different type of Dline built more about speed and explosion. That line was just brute strength and size, I'm not sure how it would fit in today's league. I'll make my decision about this a few weeks into the regular season though.

**GOTA** · 08-20-2013, 07:45 AM

That 2000 line was one the best in NFL history. It's dumb to make statements that this could be better.

**AirFlacco** · 08-20-2013, 07:53 AM

Adams and Goose were huge and set the standard. After that teams started getting
big men but as Billick said, just being big doesn't mean anything. Adams had great
lateral movement on the line.

**RavenScallywag** · 08-20-2013, 08:09 AM

To me, this line is incomparable to 2000. The 2000 DL was a 4-3 line, which has a TOTALLY different function than a 3-4...In a 4-3, the DL is the FOCAL POINT of the front 7. That's where you stop the run, that's where you rush the passer. In the 3-4, your DL needs to protect the inside runs, move the pocket back, but the LBs are the focal point of the defense. The LBs rush the passer, stop the run...

So taking that away, we may not have the best DL, but we have probably the deepest we've seen as a 3-4 line.

Our projected starters are Canty, Ngata, and Jones. Canty and Ngata are stalwart vets, Jones is an up and coming star. Behind them, you have Spears - another solid vet, Brandon Williams - a massive rookie with incredible strength, DeAngelo Tyson - a solid young player, and Cody. Cody has some negatives, but also has a very big physique and if he gets his technique right, would be a huge asset on the line. Another big thing to note is the versatility. Canty, Ngata, Tyson, Spears, Williams all have the ability to play inside or outside. Cody is mainly a NT, Art Jones could play inside, but not sure how effective he is. And this is counting out Pernell McPhee, who is currently trying to make it as an OLB.