Baltimore Ravens - Greatest Rookie Seasons

by Bruce Raffel on Jul 2, 2009 11:55 AM EDT

Going into the Baltimore Ravens' 14th season, I did some research on the best rookie seasons since their inception in the 1996 season. For statistical purposes, I based the definition of the rookie season on the first year in the NFL for the player. Obviously, there have been many players whose first year with the Ravens was not their first year in the league, so those players are not part of my statistical profile. I looked at passing, rushing, receiving, sacks, interceptions and punting. I also looked at placekicking, but since the only full time placekicker on the Ravens' roster since their inception was Matt Stover, it wouldn't fit into my story, as Stover;'s rookie season was 1991 when he was a Cleveland Brown, and that takes him and the category out of the equation (FYI - In Stover's rookie season in Cleveland, he was 16-22 in FG attempts with two kicks over 50 yards for a total of 81 points. His first season as a Raven was 1996 and he hit on 19-25 with one over 50 yards for 91 points).

Click to the "Jump" for the rest of the Baltimore Ravens best rookie seasons.

Passing: Joe Flacco (2008) 257-428, 2971 yards, 14-TD/12-INT

NOTE: Kyle Boller's rookie season (2003) looked like this: 116-224, 1260 yards, 7-TD/9-INT. For comparison purposes, Vinny Testeverde's initial Baltimore season was 325-549, 4177 yards, 33-TD/19-INT!

Rushing: Jamal Lewis (2000) 309 attempts for 1364 yards & 6 TD's (no one else was anywhere close to Lewis).

Receiving: Mark Clayton (2005) 44 receptions, 471 yards, 2-TD

NOTE: Travis Taylor (2000) came in second with 28/276/3 and Todd Heap (2001) just behind him with 16/206/1.

Sacks: Terrell Suggs (2003) 12.0

NOTE: Suggs just barely beat out Peter Boulware (1997), who finished with 11.5 sacks.

Interceptions: Thre was a four-way tie for this category, so here are the guys listed in order of return yardage:

Ed Reed (2002) 5 for 167 yards, 0-TD

Dawan Landry (2006) 5 for 101 yards, 1-TD

Chris McAlister (1999) 5 for 28 yards, 0-TD

Duane Starks (1998) 5 for 3 yards, 0-TD

Punting: Sam Koch (2006) 86 punts for a 43.0 average, including 30 inside opponent's 20 yard line.

NOTE: Dave Zastudil (2002) came in a close second with 81 punts for a 41.6 average and 31 inside opponent's 20.

Surprised? What categories would you have thought would have had different leaders?

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Comments

What do you mean by this?

Rushing: Jamal Lewis (2000) 309 attempts for 1364 yards & 6 TD’s (no one else was anywhere close to Lewis).

Did you mean no other rookie came close to this? Because if you did, Mike Anderson of the Denver Broncos actually won Offensive Rookie of the Year because he had 1,487 yards and 15 touchdowns. Now, Anderson was not truly a rookie, considering he was 27 years old in his rookie year. But he beat out Jamal and I was so upset that year.

Oh, my vote goes to Sam Koch. What a beast season. How many rushing yards did he have that year?

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Jul 2, 2009 1:00 PM EDT reply actions

He means that no other Ravens rookie has come close to rushing for that total in his first year with the team.

by DT711 on Jul 2, 2009 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Exactly

Not comparing their rookie seasons with anyone other than Ravens’ rookies since our inception in ’96. Thanks for stepping in to clarify, DT.

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Jul 2, 2009 8:22 PM EDT up reply actions

to answer your question, Sam Koch

rushed for 9 yards against Dallas. (fake FG) lol

by FEARtheTERP1 on Jul 2, 2009 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, last year was not his rookie season. lol

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Jul 2, 2009 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions

…but it WAS a great run!

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Jul 2, 2009 8:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Vinny

For all his great stats, I think what folks remember him most for is throwing a Pick-6 FROM HIS KNEES-!

Tough to pick between Jamal and Flacco. One might throw Jermaine Lewis into the mix also. But I think Flacco gets the nod only because the overall track record of rookie QB’s is pretty bad and yet Flacco was able blow through all that …and keep the mono-brow intact-!

by vlad755 on Jul 2, 2009 1:40 PM EDT reply actions

I didn't do return guys

for both punt returns and kickoff returns. I’m guessing Jermaine’s rookie season leads both. Anyone care to research?

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Jul 2, 2009 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions

What about tackles?

You have to hate losing more than you love winning.

by Mr MaLoR on Jul 2, 2009 1:47 PM EDT reply actions

Wasn't able to find too much info on tackles, but...

…something tells me it’s Ray Lewis, who got all the credit if he fell down in the vicinity of a tackle by anyone. Just ask that crybaby, Edgerton Hartwel, who always whined that Ray took “his” tackles!

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Jul 2, 2009 8:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Looking back

Hartwell should have thanked Ray for the honor of having his tackles stolen by the greatest MLB in NFL history.

by DT711 on Jul 3, 2009 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions

and Hartwell did WHAT in the ATL?

yeah, I know he was injured, but…

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Jul 3, 2009 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Interesting Injury Point

…you bring up. Edge was not the first or last to leave the Ravens defense and fall to the injury bug. Theory: I wonder how much they were injured here, but “sucked it up” due to playing with Ray. Without Ray’s leadership, you might decide the injury is a little worse than it really is. When people talk about Ray’s leadership, I think this might one of the qualities they mean; that he is able to get folks to sacrifice beyond what they would normally sacrifice for the team.

by vlad755 on Jul 6, 2009 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions