Wesseling: Ravens' offensive line, Steve Smith Sr. top surprises at quarter mark

"Age is nothing but a number," I'd say to the beautiful, VCU seniors. Being a freshman, they'd reject me, and I'd think, someday Steve Smith Sr. will know exactly how I feel. He does.

After four Football Sundays (one Thursday night), the electrifying, healthy, 5-foot-9 Mighty Mouse has 25 catches, 429 yards and three touchdowns with the Baltimore Ravens.

The 35-year-old is ranked behind NFL receiving yardage leader Jordy Nelson (459), who turned 29 earlier this May, and trails the young Julio Jones, 25 and in his fourth season, by 18 yards. Here's what Wesseling had to say:

We expected Smith to lead Baltimore in receiving this season. We just didn't envision him getting off to the best start in history for any wide receiver over age 35. On pace for 100 receptions and a career-high 1,700 receiving yards, Smith has been one of the NFL's most dangerous deep threats this year after 135 players caught more passes of 20-plus yards in 2013.

Much credit is owed to the Ravens' offensive line for buying Flacco ample time to plant and step into throws. The unit actually landed on Wesseling's Top 10 list at seventh-surprising of the season.

The Ravens have used three different players in the lead-back role, yet still rank first in runs over 20 yards, second in first-down percentage and seventh in rushing yards. That's quite a bounce back for a ground attack that was historically inept in 2013. It's also worth noting that Andy Dalton is the only starting quarterback sacked fewer times than Joe Flacco (three) through four games. New offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak deserves plenty of credit.

Flacco's been sacked three times through four games. The man, who we all ought to thank for running the show behind the curtains, is Offensive Coordinator Gary Kubiak.

Steelers workhorse Le'Veon Bell nearly fell through the roof and landed into the pile of Wesseling's honorable mentions. He earned his stripes from Day 1 and Bell's total rushing yards (378) places him second, behind current league leader, Cowboys' DeMarco Murray (534).

Another pleasant surprise, Lorenzo Taliaferro, was featured last week in Marc Sessler's assessment. How the heavens did Giants tight end Larry Donnell end up on this list?

Justin Forsett -- who's been running lights out -- would make a strong case for Wesseling to revise his evaluation.