31 days until it is football time in Tennessee

Countdown to the 2023 season: 31 days until it is football time in Tennessee

Tennessee will kick off its 2023 football season in 31 days.

Jamal Lewis wore jersey No. 31 and played running back at Tennessee from 1997-99.

He totaled 2,677 rushing yards, 17 rushing touchdowns, 39 receptions, 475 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns at Tennessee.

Lewis won a BCS national championship with the Vols in 1998. He was selected No. 5 overall by Baltimore in the 2000 NFL draft.

PHOTOS: Jamal Lewis through the years

The Vols will kick off its 2023 season Sept. 2 versus Virginia at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. Kickoff is slated for noon EDT and ABC will televise the contest.

Tennessee’s home schedule has contests against Austin Peay, UTSA, South Carolina, Texas A&M, UConn, Georgia and Vanderbilt.

The Vols’ road schedule features games at Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and Missouri.

The 2023 season will be Tennessee’s third under head coach Josh Heupel.

PHOTOS: Tennessee running backs through the years

Tennessee’s 2023 football schedule

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Ravens hosting tribute for 2000 Super Bowl-winning team

The Ravens announced an event as a tribute to their 2000 Super Bowl-winning team

The Baltimore Ravens have had numerous magical seasons throughout their 26-year history. The relatively young franchise played their first game in 1996 and won a championship just a few years later. Now, the team has an upcoming event will look to pay tribute to their team from the 2000-2001 season in which they won Super Bowl XXXV.

The Ravens announced “A Championship Celebration,” a public ticketed event that looks to honor members from the Ravens’ 2000-01 Super Bowl winning team. Guests from the Super Bowl XXXV team scheduled to make an appearance include Brian Billick, Ray Lewis, Shannon Sharpe, Rod Woodson, Tony Siragusa, Trent Dilfer, Jamal Lewis, and others. Stories and unseen footage from the season and surprise guest appearances will also take place.

Those in attendance will have photo opportunities with the 2000 Lombardi Trophy and Lamar Hunt Trophy. They will also receive a custom Super Bowl XXXV pennant. The event will be held on Monday, May 23, 2022 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in downtown Baltimore.

Ticket information can be found here.

The best pick from each NFL draft class in Ravens history

We take a look back at each of the Baltimore Ravens’ drafts to find the best selection the team made.

The Baltimore Ravens have long been considered one of the best teams in the league when it comes to scouting, drafting, and developing players. The Ravens have been a part of 25 NFL drafts since being founded in 1996 and have earned their reputation by finding some real gems at a variety of rounds. In that time, Baltimore has drafted 31 players who have been to a Pro Bowl, 14 players who were named to the All-Pro team, and three players currently enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

However, not every pick or even draft year has been outstanding for the Ravens, with some selections having clearly been better than others. But instead of looking at which players were the best overall, we want to break it down year-by-year to find the best player Baltimore grabbed in every draft throughout franchise history.

Let’s kick it off with that inaugural 1996 season . . .

Clay Matthews, Josh Cribbs among many Browns nominated for Pro Football Hall of Fame

Clay Matthews, Josh Cribbs among many Browns nominated for Pro Football Hall of Fame

Will this finally be the year for Browns legend Clay Matthews Jr. to earn enshrinement in Canton? Matthews headlines a large group of players with Cleveland Browns ties in the initial nominations for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and it’s enshrinement class of 2021.

Matthews has been a semifinalist three times, including last year, but has yet to get the gold jacket. He’s the most likely of any of the players with Browns ties to earn the nod in 2021.

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Also prominent among the Browns nominated is special teamer extraordinaire Josh Cribbs. While he never found a home at running back or wide receiver, Cribbs made three Pro Bowls as a return man. He ranks third in NFL history in total return yards, kick returns yards and scored 11 TDs. Cribbs was also one of the best special teams coverage men of his era.

Joining Matthews and Cribbs on the list of Browns among the 130 players who made the initial nomination list:

(in alphabetical order)

Lomas Brown – primarily knows for his Pro Bowl-laden career with the Detroit Lions, Brown played left tackle for the expansion 1999 Browns.

Earnest Byner – one of the most electrifying and productive dual-threat RBs of the 1980s, Byner played half of his 14-year career in Cleveland.

Jake Delhomme – the longtime Panthers quarterback went 2-2 as the starter for the Browns in 2010.

Jeff Garcia – The consummate journeyman QB, Garcia started 10 games for Cleveland in 2004. It was the second stop in Garcia’s journey that saw him play for six teams in seven years.

Jamal Lewis – after a great career with the rival Ravens, Lewis finished his impressive RB career with three seasons (2007-2009) in Cleveland. He topped 1,300 yards rushing in his first year with the Browns, the most of any in a season for a Cleveland RB not named Jim Brown until Nick Chubb passed it in 2019.

Eric Metcalf – the slippery runner/receiver/return man spent his first six seasons (1989-1994) with the Browns and quickly earned fan-favorite status for his sashaying style. He made the Pro Bowl twice and first-team All-Pro once in Cleveland.

Willie McGinest – McGinest spent the final three (2006-2008) of his 18 NFL seasons with the Browns after an illustrious career as an outside LB with the Patriots prior to that.

Michael Dean Perry – My personal favorite Browns player ever, Perry played defensive line for Cleveland in his first seven seasons (1988-1994). He made five Pro Bowls and two first-team All-Pro squads in those years.

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Meeting the Ravens 2020 opponents: The Cleveland Browns

We take a closer look at each of the Baltimore Ravens’ opponents on the 2020 NFL schedule, starting with Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns

Training camp and the regular season quickly approach as we enter the summer months. With the schedule released and the NFL moving back into their training facilities, the regular season occurring in its entirety is looking more plausible. With an eye towards the 2020 NFL season, we’ll take a look at each of the Baltimore Ravens’ opponents, in order. From the records against each other to the big performances, we’ll take a deep dive to prepare you for the regular season.

The Ravens will open the 2020 NFL season against their AFC North rival Cleveland Browns at M&T Bank Stadium, before meeting back up in Week 14 as well. Being a divisional game, it’s a chance for both teams to start the 2020 season off on the right foot.

Let’s start with the reason for all the heat between Cleveland and Baltimore.

The rivalry

Credit: Brian Bahr/ALLSPORT

The Browns/Ravens rivalry is one of the more unique stories in the entire NFL, as one team was essentially the rib of the other. In 1995, Browns owner Art Modell moved his team out of the city that it had called home since it’s inception in 1946. Modell’s desire for a brand new stadium was a goal not shared by the authorities in Cleveland. The team was made to leave behind their name and history in Cleveland and became the Baltimore Ravens. Essentially this made the Ravens an expansion team, although one with an existing roster and two first-round picks in the 1996 NFL Draft.

After three seasons without a team, during which a brand new stadium was built, the Browns were reactivated in Cleveland for 1999 and joined the Ravens in the then-AFC Central division.

Modell remained an unpopular figure in Cleveland for the rest of his life (he sadly died in 2012). Never the most popular owner with the Browns fans, “The Move” only intensified the ill feelings towards him that had started in 1963 when he fired founding coach Paul Brown. But as much as he was vilified by the fans in Cleveland, Modell was a popular figure with the people of Baltimore after bringing the NFL back to the city following the Colts elopement in 1983.

Let’s move on to how the rivalry has fared over the two decades it’s existed, on the next page.

NFL Draft: Grading the first-rounders 20 years after 2000

The New England Patriots got Tom Brady at 199. How did players in the first round of the 2000 NFL Draft turn out and what did they grade?

The 2000 NFL Draft produced a memorable selection. It didn’t come in the first five rounds. Rather, it was the New England Patriots using a compensatory pick at 199 to select Michigan QB Tom Brady. How did teams do in the 2000 first round?

31. Rams: Trung Canidate

Ezra Shaw/ALLSPORT

Trung Canidate played four seasons, rushing for 1,095 yards. His best season was his final one with Washington. He rushed for 600 yards in 10 games in 2003. In three seasons with Arizona, he ran for 495 yards. Grade: D-minus

Lamar Jackson has been worth his weight in fantasy gold in 2019

A look at the season Lamar Jackson has put together in fantasy football in 2019

After Thursday night’s dismantling of the New York Jets, there can surely be no doubt as to the identity of the 2019 MVP. Lamar Jackson was masterful once again as a passer and a rusher, with his third game with five passing touchdowns and his setting the new single-season rushing record for a quarterback. It has truly been a season to remember for Jackson.

But as good as he has been in “real” life, we cannot overstate how great Jackson has been in fantasy football. As crazy as it seems now, according to average draft position data from My Fantasy League, Jackson was the 15th quarterback selected in fantasy drafts in August. People who picked him up this late are all looking pretty clever now, as Jackson is the leading point scorer in ALL of fantasy football.

His 37.1 fantasy points against the New York Jets marked the seventh time this season Jackson has amassed 30 or more points in a single game. Since the dawn of the 21st century, only three players have had more 30 point games in a single season. Marshall Faulk (2000), former Ravens running back Priest Holmes (2003) and LaDanian Tomlinson (2006) all had nine such games. Jackson has two games left in 2019, but it is by no means certain that he’ll play a full role in either of them. Jackson has been the overall QB3 or better eight times in 2019, with three weeks as the overall QB1 (potentially four, pending the rest of the Week 15 games).

Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Jackson has a whopping 387.9 Points per Reception (PPR) fantasy points after 14 games. This is a new Ravens single-season record, beating Ray Rice’s 372.8 from 2011. Jackson has also averaged a whopping 27.7 PPR points per game in 2019, another Ravens record. Jackson is one of three Ravens players to average more than 20 PPR points per game in a season, joining Rice (2009 and 2011) and Jamal Lewis (2003).

As crazy as it sounds, Jackson could have had an even greater season if it were not his deeds in blowing out some of the teams he has played against. As Matthew Stevens pointed out, Jackson has sat in the 4th quarter of all three of the games in which he tossed five touchdowns.

But for all the greatness, there could be a sting in the tail for Jackson’s owners this season. Some scenarios could occur this weekend that would lock up the No. 1 seed for the Ravens, clinching home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and making the final regular-season game meaningless. Ravens coach John Harbaugh could decide to give his superstar an extended break, which would mean Jackson being unavailable for the fantasy football championships (usually played in Week 16, unless your commissioner is a psychopath).

Whether he plays in the final game or not, Jackson has been a true fantasy superstar in 2019. Ravens fans and fantasy football fans alike have been truly blessed to have him in our lives this season.

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Ravens’ rushing attack has set franchise record — on pace for NFL record in 2019

The 2019 Ravens have broken the franchise record for rushing yards in a single season and are on pace for an NFL record in a passing league

The modern NFL is a passing league, we are constantly reminded. Running the ball is inefficient and the forward pass is the only way to move the football effectively in 2019. No point even bothering trying to run the ball. Throw, throw and then throw some more.

This is something of an exaggeration of course. But the idea that you can set rushing records in 2019 AND be one of the best offenses in football would have seemed fanciful in August. Yet, with two games still remaining this season, the Baltimore Ravens sit atop the AFC North (and many pundits’ power rankings too) on the back of a historic ground attack.

After 14 games, the Ravens have amassed 2,830 rushing yards at an average of 5.53 yards per attempt and an astonishing 202.1 yards per game. The next most run-happy team is the San Francisco 49ers. Most years San Francisco’s 149.1 yards per game would easily be the most. But not this year.

The Ravens still have two games left to play, but this is still the most rushing yards they have amassed in a single season in team history. They already have 156 yards more than they managed in 2003, the previous best when thanks to 2,066 yards from Jamal Lewis they powered their way to 2,674.

Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

To put Baltimore’s achievement into historical context, you have to go back to the 1978 New England Patriots for the last time a team had this many rushing yards after 14 games. The Chuck Fairbanks-led Patriots had 2,839 after 14 games and finished with 3,165.

That Patriots team is one of only two teams to finish a season with more than 3,000 rushing yards. The 1973 Buffalo Bills were the other and like the 2003 Baltimore team, they got there on the back off a historic season by a running back. Hall of Fame runner O.J. Simpson rushed for 2,003 yards in a 14 game season for the Bills.

It is possible that if results go Baltimore’s way in Week 16, the team may be able to clinch the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, making the final somewhat meaningless. You would suspect that it would make the Ravens reaching their per game rushing average in the next two contests difficult, especially if starters are rested. But if they are able to maintain their pace, then the 2019 Ravens would finish with 3,234 rushing yards. This would be good enough to set an all-time NFL record . . . in a passing league.

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