Ravens News 6/12: Mandatory minicamp, All-time XI and more

What You Need to Know: Ravens Kick Off Mandatory Minicamp - Joe Schiller

Mandatory minicamp is shorter than OTAs and practices will last from Tuesday-Thursday for the Ravens this week.

It’s important to note that “mandatory” is the keyword here. Unlike OTAs, which are voluntary, players under contract are required to attend minicamp this week unless otherwise noted.

As stated by the NFL Players Association, the Ravens are allowed 10 hours a day, 6.5 which can occur on the field. Full pads and contact still aren’t until training camp but this provides valuable time for both the offensive and defensive units to continue to gel. An offseason overhaul has brought a wealth of new talent to Baltimore and their integration is crucial to the team’s success this season.

Starting right tackle is the most important position battle on the roster. Will Orlando Brown Jr. or James Hurst receive more reps with the first team this week?

What would the NFL look like if the Colts never moved to Indianapolis? - Adam Stites

In the middle of a March night in 1984, the Colts packed 12 Mayflower trucks with all the team’s belongings and left Baltimore for Indianapolis.

The relocation didn’t just devastate Baltimoreans — it left a few other cities disappointed, too. Prior to the move, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Memphis, and Phoenix were all courted as the potential next home of the Colts.

In the more than three decades since, all but Memphis have welcomed an NFL franchise. Even Baltimore got its Colts replacement in 1996 when the Cleveland Browns became the Baltimore Ravens.

Irsay inherited the same problems when he took over the franchise. While some momentum for a new stadium picked up in Baltimore, it never came to be and Irsay began the process of looking for alternative cities.

But let’s imagine a scenario where Baltimore replaced its crumbling Municipal Stadium with a new stadium in the late 1970s that kept the team in Maryland for the long term. Here’s what could have happened:

The Ravens never come to be

If the Browns still depart Cleveland after the 1995 season, they would land elsewhere and there’s no reason that team would be called the Ravens — a reference to Edgar Allan Poe’s Baltimore home.

The Ravens have earned two championships compared to one for Indianapolis, despite a 12 year absence of professional football in Baltimore.

All-time XI, AFC North: Ray Lewis leads stacked Ravens crew - Jeremy Bergman

Baltimore Ravens

1) Ray Lewis, LB (1996-2012)

2) Ed Reed, S (2002-2012)

3) Jonathan Ogden, OT (1996-2007)

4) Terrell Suggs, LB (2003-present)

5) Joe Flacco, QB (2008-present)

6) Jamal Lewis, RB (2000-06)

7) Haloti Ngata, DT (2006-2014)

8) Marshal Yanda, OT (2007-present)

9) Peter Boulware, LB (1997-2005)

10) Justin Tucker, K (2012-present)

11) Ray Rice, RB (2008-2013)

Baltimore’s second NFL franchise has a short but storied history, one that in just 22 years of existence has produced two Super Bowl titles and a litany of turn-of-the-century icons and future Hall of Famers. Ray Lewis is heading to Canton this summer, while Reed isn’t far behind him and Ogden is already there. The inclusion of Flacco high on this “elite” list will draw snickers and cheap internet jokes, but he QB’ed the Ravens to a Lombardi and is the only steady, and sometimes special, signal-caller in team history. The order of the back half is interchangeable. #PeopleForget that Jamal Lewis is one of just seven players to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. The big uglies (Ngata and Yanda) played pivotal roles on Baltimore’s 2012 title team. Matt Stover is the team’s all-time leading scorer, but Tucker is a pigskin-launching deus, a two-time All-Pro -- and a damn good baritone. Rice’s stint with the Ravens and in the NFL was cut short for serious off-the-field reasons, but the back burned brightly during his career in Baltimore.

Chris McAlister is a notable omission. The three time Pro Bowl corner started 135 games for the Ravens, providing 29 interceptions, 103 pass breakups and six defensive touchdowns.