Carving The Ravens’ Mount Rushmore

Three Locks and a Fight

Grab a cold one and pull up a chair, because we’re about to have the argument that’s been raging from the parking lots of the Bank to the barstools of Federal Hill for years now: if the Ravens carved a Mount Rushmore into the side of the Castle in Owings Mills, whose faces would be staring back at us?

Now before you fire off that angry email or drop a comment wondering if I’ve overindulged at a local dispensary, let me set the ground rules. This isn’t about who you’d want to have a beer and a crab cake with at Jimmy’s Famous Seafood. This is about the résumé — the stats, the Pro Bowls, the All-Pro nods, the hardware, the busts in Canton, and the way the rest of the league talks about these guys when Baltimore isn’t in the room.

Three of the Mount’s faces chisel themselves. The stone masons could knock off early on those. It’s the fourth head that starts the heated debate.

The Lock of All Locks: Ray Lewis

Let’s not overthink this. No. 52 is the franchise. Seventeen seasons, all in purple. Thirteen Pro Bowls. First-team All-Pro so many times they should’ve just kept his name on the ballot in Sharpie. Two Defensive Player of the Year awards (2000 and 2003). Two Lombardi Trophies. MVP of Super Bowl XXXV, when that 2000 defense treated the Giants like a pinata.

Ray Lewis is the greatest leader in Ravens history. The speeches. The passion. The intensity. Nobody set the tone like No. 52. #Ravens #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/PaCEhVSbKM

— Ravori Sports (Baltimore Sports) (@RavoriSports) July 7, 2026

The numbers are absurd — Ray remains the only player in NFL history with at least 40 sacks and 30 interceptions. And when ESPN polled 50 of its experts to name the greatest player ever at each position, Ray wasn’t just on the list. He won the linebacker spot going away, lapping Dick Butkus by double-digit votes. Read that again. Not the best Raven. The best linebacker to ever lace them up. First face on the mountain. Next.

The Foundation: Jonathan Ogden

Before there was a Ray Lewis pregame dance, there was a pick. The first pick this franchise ever made, back in ’96 when Ozzie Newsome sat in that draft room and took the big man from UCLA fourth overall instead of the running back everybody in town was screaming for. That decision built everything that followed.

J.O. made eleven straight Pro Bowls — every season of his career except his rookie year. Think about that consistency. Even Pro Football Focus, which didn’t start grading until 2006, caught only the tail end of his career and still watched a banged-up Ogden surrender just 18 pressures over his final 811 pass-blocking snaps. That’s a 6-foot-9 monument to quiet dominance. ESPN’s all-time positional survey slotted him second among tackles in the history of the sport, behind only Anthony Munoz. First Raven drafted, first Raven in the Hall of Fame. He’s on the mountain. Maybe he IS the mountain.

The Ball Hawk: Ed Reed

If Ray was the heartbeat of those defenses, Ed Reed was the nightmare quarterbacks saw when they closed their eyes. Nine Pro Bowls. Defensive Player of the Year in 2004 — and here’s the kicker: he’s the only free safety to ever win that award. The NFL record for interception return yards (1,590) belongs to No. 20, and so does the longest pick-six in league history at 107 yards, because of course Ed wasn’t going down at the 50.

He’s tied for the most interceptions in postseason history. He got his ring in New Orleans. He’s in Canton. ESPN’s panel put him second all-time at safety. There were Sundays at The Bank when you’d watch him bait a quarterback into a throw. Even the great Peyton Manning took the cheese resulting in a big INT for Ed. Bill Belichick loved his play; Tom Brady wrote Reed’s number on his wristband as a reminder to find No. 20 before each play.  We gleefully watched arguably the smartest defensive back to ever play. Third face. Done.

Could watch Ed Reed highlights all day

: @NFLLegacy pic.twitter.com/Sk7daFA3SC

— NFL on Prime Video (@NFLonPrime) November 6, 2024

The Fourth Face: Where the Gloves Come Off

So, who’s left holding the chisel? Here’s where the barstool gets loud.

The case for Sizzle: Terrell Suggs is the franchise’s all-time sack leader, a Defensive Player of the Year (2011), seven Pro Bowls, a ring, and PFF logged him for over 700 pressures from 2008 to 2019. Canton is coming for T-Sizzle.

The case for Joe: Flacco has the one thing nobody else in this conversation has besides the Hall of Famers — a Super Bowl MVP. That 2012 run included 11 touchdowns, zero picks, and pure January sorcery. But zero Pro Bowls in purple is a tough line on the résumé for a mountain like this.

The case for Yanda: The toughest man to ever wear the uniform, and PFF says he owns the five highest-graded guard seasons in franchise history. Guards just don’t get mountains. It ain’t fair, but neither is football.

And then there’s No. 8. Lamar Jackson is a two-time MVP — unanimous in 2019, near-unanimous in 2023. He owns the most rushing yards by any quarterback in NFL history. In 2024 he went first-team All-Pro again while becoming the first player ever with 4,000 passing yards and 800 rushing yards in the same season. PFF says he’s produced the highest-graded quarterback seasons in franchise history, and it isn’t close. Even the league’s own NFL Network put him on their version of the Ravens’ Rushmore alongside Ray, Ed and J.O.

Yes, I hear you in the back row: “No ring, hon!” Fair. It’s the asterisk on the whole thing, and Lamar himself would tell you the same. But we’re weighing statistical dominance, All-Pro hardware and league-wide reputation — and by those measures, two MVPs beats every alternative on the board. Flacco’s ring is a moment. Lamar’s achievements represent an era.

60 minutes of Lamar Jackson highlights to cleanse your timeline.

One of the greatest seasons in NFL history. pic.twitter.com/I0XwbjAw3Q

— The Flock Rundown (@TheFlockRundown) April 11, 2026

The Final Carving

Ray Lewis. Jonathan Ogden. Ed Reed. Lamar Jackson.

Three first-ballot Hall of Famers and the most electrifying quarterback of his generation, still writing his chapter. Just leave a little extra granite next to that fourth face — because if No. 8 ever hoists a Lombardi in purple, the argument ends forever. DONE!

The only debate then, might be “Who is the greatest Raven of all time?”

Agree? Disagree?

You know where to find me.

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