Baltimore Ravens Being Undervalued in NFL Top 100

The Baltimore Ravens are coming off a season in which they finished 10-6 and squeaked into the playoffs with some outside help. While it was not the best work the organization has done, it was a much better season than the 2013 season full of ups and downs that ultimately ended with an 8-8 record and no playoff berth.

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One would think that coming off a better season, people around the league would give the Ravens and its players better appreciation. Instead, for some strange reason they’re being looked at as players who have fallen off over the past few seasons.

The 2015 season marks the five-year anniversary of the players creating an annual list called the NFL Top 100. The name speaks for itself: players rank the top 100 players in the league and the NFL Network airs a series of episodes breaking down the next 10 players on the list. The players are expected to vote on their peers based on their past performances as well as how they expect them to play in the upcoming season.

Over the years, there has been a lot of criticism in how the Pro Bowl and yearly awards work. In most of these cases, it is the fans or media who decide which players earn those honors. There have been countless cases of players getting snubbed from garnering honors because of the popularity that comes from certain players.

The NBA is known for this more than the other major sports. Kobe Bryant was selected to the All-Star game the past two seasons and he has played in just 41 games over that stretch. That is why I put more merit in the votes of the players who actually than I would a fan or media vote. Still, it is a bit comical how these rankings shaped out.

The Ravens have a total of three players whose name has been selected thus far, and two of those listed have seen a substantial drop in their ranking from the previous year. There was one that dropped an absurd 58 spots from No. 26 to No. 84. The man I am speaking about is Terrell Suggs. What makes no sense is why there would be such a drop when the numbers actually got better. Suggs had 10 sacks in 2013 compared to 12 last season.

The same could be said for Joe Flacco. Joe Cool was ranked No. 97 entering this season after finishing No. 58 the year prior. What is mind-boggling is that Flacco had a much better season in 2014 than the year following the Ravens’ Super Bowl title. The passing yardage was basically the same (3912 yards in 2013 compared to 3986 yards in 2014), but Flacco finished the 2014 season with a career-high 27 touchdowns and 12 touchdowns. So does it make sense that he is ranked lower now than he was coming off a season in which he threw more interceptions (22) than touchdowns (19)?

Now former Raven Haloti Ngata also saw a big drop in his ranking, but his drop wasn’t as drastic as Suggs. In fact, he was ranked higher than Suggs. I would love to ask those who were polled how a player that was suspended the final four games of the season when his team is battling for a playoff spot is ranked better than Suggs.

The only bright spot for the Ravens in this is seeing C.J. Mosley getting some recognition, ranked No. 94 of the 100 players. Mosley enjoyed a phenomenal rookie campaign in which he was voted to the Pro Bowl, becoming the first Raven to be selected in his rookie season. Mosley was also the runner up for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Aaron Donald of the St. Louis Rams won the award and was ranked two spots ahead of Mosley at No. 92.

The Ravens will likely see one more name on this list in Marshal Yanda. He was No. 55 last season and should once grace the list at some point. The NFL Network has released just the first two episodes of the show, and Yanda figures to be the last Ravens player on that list at some point. It remains to be seen whether his ranking fell as well.

Regardless, if you are a Ravens fan, you have to be wondering what guys around the league are thinking. How are players being “punished” for a lack of a better word for enjoying a better season than the year prior?

A wise man once told me that speculation is one of the greatest parts of the game. Without speculation, there would be no need for all those television and radio shows. There would be no need for

We can speculate that the athletes know what they are talking about when they are ranking the top 100 players.

Next: Remembering Jarret Johnson After His Retirement

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