Four Ravens primed to make their first career Pro Bowl in 2020

The Baltimore Ravens were the best and hottest team in the regular season last season, and it was reflected by their representation on the Pro Bowl roster. They tied a league record and set a franchise record with 12 players voted to All-Star team of the best players in the NFL, a group that including seven first-timers coming off of breakout seasons.

Last year’s first time Pro Bowlers included reigning league MVP and All-Pro quarterback Lamar Jackson, All-Pro cornerback Marlon Humphrey, All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley, outside linebacker Matthew Judon, fullback Patrick Ricard, tight end Mark Andrews, and right tackle Orlando Brown Jr who made it 13 after making it as a first alternate.
The Ravens are bringing back all 13 of those Pro Bowlers for a run at a title in 2020 and this roster is looking even scarier and more stacked than last year’s 14-2 squad. They have a handful of players that are poised to have career years of their own this season for different reasons, but most of them are because they are surrounded by so much great talent that will allow them to shine.
Here are four Ravens that are primed to get voted to their first Pro Bowl in 2020:
WR Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown
The 2019 first-round pick out of Oklahoma flashed at times during his rookie season when he was healthy and on the field, but he was still rehabbing from Lisfranc foot surgery that he had early on in the pre-draft process and dealt with a few other lower extremity injuries during year one. Despite all that in 14 games, including 11 starts, he still managed to haul in a respectable 584 yards receiving on 46 catches and he tied a franchise rookie record with seven receiving touchdowns.
Most players make the biggest leap from year one to year two and Hollywood is one of the Ravens’ prime candidates to break out in 2020 now that he is fully healthy and has had a full offseason to get better instead of rehab. Brown had added a considerable amount of muscle mass since his rookie year ended and he looks fully recovered and better than his pre-injury form.
A healthy Hollywood could make the top-scoring offense from a year ago even more explosive this year with his blazing speed and playmaking ability that could add some electric juice to the passing game at every level of the field. The Ravens haven’t had the best luck at drafting and developing receivers, but Brown has the potential to buck that trend and become the first homegrown wideout to make the Pro Bowl.
ILB Patrick Queen-

As much buzz as Brown has been getting as a potential breakout candidate heading into his second season, the Ravens’ first-round selection from this year’s draft has been garnering just as much attention for his anticipated success in his first year in the league. The former LSU standout is being mentioned right along with second overall pick Chase Young as early front runners to win Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Queen adds a playmaking dimension to the middle of the Ravens’ defense that they lost last offseason when they lost four-time Pro Bowler CJ Mosely to free agency. He is expected to come in and contribute right away as the starting MIKE linebacker where he’ll be able to use his incredible speed to make plays from sideline to sideline. He has a natural feel for the passing game when he’s out in space and his instincts allow to make game-changing plays in coverage.
While the Ravens history at drafting and developing players at the receiver position leaves much to be desired, their hit rate at finding impactful inside linebackers both through the draft and in undrafted free agency is the best in the league. Mosley made the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2014 and came in second in DROY voting that year, but Queen has the potential to do something not even the great Ray Lewis did in 1996 when he entered the league and making the Pro Bowl is would be third on the list in order of least to most impressive.
He could not only make the first of what could be many Pro Bowls in his career, win DROY but most impassively, be the fixture in the middle of a defense that could go all the way to the Superbowl with their top-flight secondary that features a pair of All-Pro corners (Marcus Peter and Marlon Humphrey) and a defensive line that features Calais Campbell, Derek Wolfe, and Brandon Williams.
DT Derek Wolfe-
Speaking of Wolfe, the former Denver Bronco signed a one-year deal with the Ravens in free agency back in March after their original agreement with Michael Brockers of the Los Angles Rams fell through. He is quite the consolation prize for the Ravens and their partnership could be mutually beneficial with both sides getting exactly what they want out of the deal and that’s another Superbowl ring to add to their collection.
Wolfe was a staple in the Broncos defense from 2012 to 2019 and he was a key member on the 2015 unit that carried the carcass of Peyton Manning to a championship. Despite all the success and Pro Bowls he’s helped other reach with all of the underneath and unselfish grunt work that he did in Denver’s pressure packages, he himself has never been voted to a Pro Bowl. He appeared to be well on his way to possible his first trip to the NFL’s All-Star game last season when he was on pace to break the double-digit sack threshold with seven through the first 12 games before an elbow injury cut his career year short.
In Baltimore he’ll be surrounded by Pro Bowlers on all sides with Campbell next him, 2019 first-timer Matthew Judon on the edge and trio of All-Pros in the secondary with corners Peters, Humphrey and safety Earl Thomas. Defensive coordinator Don ‘Wink’ Martindale is one of the most creative and aggressive play-callers on that side of the ball in the league who schemes up ways to get his players into the best possible positions to make an impact.
Wolfe will have a chance to not only make his first Pro Bowl but also be a part of another championship defense that won’t have to work nearly as hard to keep leads as the first one he was on because the Ravens have one of the best young talents at the quarterback position in Jackson leading one of the best offenses in the league instead of relying on a middling Brock Osweiler and a decrepit Manning trying to help an anemic offense do the bare minimum and not turn the ball over.
S Chuck Clark-
The story of the former sixth-round pick out of Virginia Tech in 2017 going from a long shot to make the roster to a core special teams’ player to a full-time starter is one of patience and perseverance. Clark was buried on the safety depth chart for the first two years of his career behind seasoned veterans that were entrenched into the starting lineup and who the team had invested a sizable amount of resources in.
Despite the odds and numbers being stacked against him, Clark’s talent and versatility were too great to keep him off the field and his full grasp and understanding of Martindale’s defense were evident for the coaching staff and his fellow players to see. He had a role as an extra safety and dime linebacker in sub-packages but it wasn’t until starting free safety Tony Jefferson went down with a season-ending knee injury after the first five games last season that he ascended to full-time starter status.
Clark not only took the proverbial ‘bull by the horns’ but he seized the opportunity for extended playing time and helped stabilize the backend of a Ravens’ secondary that got off to rough start to the season thanks to injuries and miscommunication issues. He finished the year with a team-leading 73 tackles, broke up nine passes, hauled in an interception, forced a pair of fumbles, registered his first career sack, and recorded three quarterback hits.
While Peters’ arrival midway through the year gave the Ravens a playmaking element in their backend, Clark’s ascension to a starter role had a profound impact on the turnaround of the defense as a whole. Baltimore allowed fewer big plays in the passing game and Clark helped at the intermediate level as well when he came down in the box to play linebacker and matchup on tight ends and runningbacks.
He did so well in his 12-game audition as a starter, including the playoff game, that DeCosta decided to sign him to a new deal with a year left on his rookie deal. In February, Clark signed a three-year extension worth $16 million that keeps him under contract through the 2023 season. Entering his fourth year in the league and first as a full-time starter, not just a rotational piece, he has the potential to be not only a stabilizing force in the secondary but a Pro-Bowl caliber playmaker.
With all the talent the team added this offseason at every level from Campbell, Wolfe, and Queen in the front seven to bringing back veteran Jimmy Smith to play a hybrid corner/safety role and the drafting Iowa safety Geno Stone in the sixth round who is heralded as one of the steals of the entire draft and could be the next Clark in a few years could mean a more defined role and free-range for Clark use his instincts to make even more plays.

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