Earlier this week, PFF‘s Jonathon Macri created the best possible team of players since 2000. The “All-PFF Team” featured two Baltimore Ravens on each side of the ball, including one active player on offense.
This should come as no surprise, as the Baltimore Ravens are one of the most consistent teams in the NFL since the turn of the century. The Ravens, thanks to the players listed below, have plenty to show for it. Baltimore is one of the most successful teams in the NFL over the past quarter-century. They have made 16 playoff appearances, won two Super Bowls and have had six former players inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Running Back Derrick Henry (96.8 Career PFF Grade)
Derrick Henry is one of only six active players on the list, and recorded the highest-graded (94.1 PFF Grade) season of his career in 2024. Both of which are “made all the more impressive by the fact that he is still going at 30 years old,” Macri writes.
“In his first year with the Baltimore Ravens in 2024, Henry led the league in both PFF overall grade (94.1) and PFF rushing grade (93.5) for his position while posting a career-high 6.0 yards per carry on 367 attempts,” writes Macri.
As a result of Henry’s performance in 2024, the Ravens rewarded him with an unprecedented contract extension last week.
Henry spent his first eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans. He made four Pro Bowl appearances and earned All-Pro Second Team honors in 2019 and All-Pro First Team honors in 2020. In each of his four Pro Bowl seasons, Henry led the league in rushing attempts. He also led the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in 2019 and 2020, eclipsing 2,000 yards in 2020. Henry was the eighth running back in NFL history to reach that mark, finishing just 88 yards shy of tying Hall-of-Famer Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record.
“His 3.6 yards after contact per attempt in his career is the second-best mark of all time among 159 qualifying running backs — behind only Nick Chubb (3.8), though Henry has handled nearly double the number of carries,” writes Macri.
Right Guard Marshal Yanda (93.6 Career PFF Grade)
Marshal Yanda fell short of being enshrined as a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer in February. He and his teammate, Terrell Suggs, were in the group of 15 modern-era finalists in their first year of eligibility.
Yanda played all 13 of his seasons in Baltimore and developed into a perennial Pro Bowler. He was named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and helped lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl in 2012. Yanda was named to the All-Pro First Team in 2014 and 2015 and the All-Pro Second Team five times (2011, 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2019).
“Yanda’s best pass-blocking campaign came in 2016, when he allowed the lowest pressure rate in a season (1.0%) for his position (minimum 450 pass-blocking snaps) and didn’t let up a single sack or quarterback hit,” according to PFF’s Macri.
Macri speaks highly of Yanda, calling him “a poster child of high-end consistency.” Macri also points out that Yanda is “the only offensive guard to rank in the top five in career PFF overall grade (93.6), career PFF run-blocking grade (91.7) and career PFF pass-blocking grade (91.3) among 274 qualifying players since 2006.”
Linebacker Ray Lewis (91.8 Career PFF Grade)
Ray Lewis is widely regarded as one of, if not, the greatest linebacker in NFL history, making him a no-brainer to be inducted as a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2018. Lewis has all the accolades you could ever hope for as a linebacker. He is the all-time leader in tackles, a 12-time Pro Bowler, 2-time Defensive Player of the Year (2000 and 2003) and was named to the All-Pro First Team seven times (1999-2001, 2003-2004, 2008-2009) and the All-Pro Second Team three times (1997-1998, 2010).
Lewis’ career began before PFF grading, but PFF’s Macri says that his five first-team All-Pro appearances and two Defensive Player of the Year awards make him “deserving of making the quarter-century team when projecting the start of his career…to the PFF era.”
Since PFF began grading every player on every play in every game in 2006, Lewis ranks among the top five linebackers. Macri singles out his 2009 season, where he registered a 91.4 PFF overall grade, “the top mark that year and tied for the third-best season all time for the position.”
Safety Ed Reed (92.3 Career PFF Grade)
Whenever you can get the legendary Bill Belichick to smile and compliment you for the best play he’s ever seen a free safety make, you’re in rarified air. Ed Reed led the league in interceptions three times (2004, 2008, 2010), earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2004, and earned All-Pro First Team honors five times (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010) and All-Pro Second Team honors three times (2003, 2009, 2011).
Similarly to his teammate, Ray Lewis, Reed’s career began before the start of PFF grading. Fortunately for Reed, PFF’s Macri took his first four seasons into account.
“In the years that followed, Reed delivered the second-highest career forced incompletion rate (19.3%) of the PFF era among 116 qualifying safeties,” writes Macri. “His 93.4 PFF coverage grade in 2009 was the third-best mark ever captured for the safety position by PFF, while his 91.8 PFF overall grade that year is tied for the fourth-best single-season mark.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Ravens Dominate With 4 Players on PFF Quarter-Century Team appeared first on Heavy Sports.