The trend started in 1996 when the Ravens drafted a middle linebacker late in the first round named Ray Lewis, who was, according to some draft experts, too short and too small to succeed in the NFL.
And it continues today with rookie linebackers Tavares Gooden and Jameel McClain, who like Lewis weren't the prototypes on the height and weight charts.
But in the NFL, few teams succeed in finding linebackers like the Ravens. They can take first-round picks, late-round selections or rookie free agents and turn them into Pro Bowl performers.
The list seems endless. Lewis. Peter Boulware. Jamie Sharper. Adalius Thomas. Terrell Suggs. Jarret Johnson. Bart Scott.
"First, there are two traits you have to have, and that's to be able to run and be a good tackler," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "Secondly, don't underestimate what those linebackers are learning in the room from No. 52 [Lewis]. Nobody understands the game better, the preparation needed, and it has to rub off on them.
"And then third, we utilize players at linebacker that have versatility," Newsome said.
And speed. Ravens linebackers have always been undersized but incredibly fast. The Ravens like the hybrids. For instance, Boulware was a defensive end at Florida State, and Suggs played the same position at Arizona State.
Johnson was a small defensive tackle at Alabama. Thomas was a pure pass rusher at Southern Mississippi. But once they came to Baltimore, they made the transition to outside linebacker.
It wasn't easy, but it wasn't that hard, either.
"Rex Ryan, Mike Nolan and Marvin Lewis have always been able to take those kinds of players and fit them into our scheme," Newsome said. "We look at what a guy can do, not what he can't do, and then we structure things around him to limit his weaknesses."
For Suggs and Boulware, it was a matter of learning to play on two feet instead of coming out of a three-point stance. The Ravens say they saw a lot of toughness in Johnson at Alabama, but there aren't too many 265-pound defensive tackles in the NFL.
Lewis and Scott were considered undersized coming out of college. The Ravens had another barometer, though, for Lewis.
"Ray didn't measure up to the height-and-weight chart," Newsome said, "but he sure did on the football meter. All he did was make every tackle on the field."
There is no debate about Lewis as a mentor. Even though he has had several position coaches himself, Lewis has been the constant in the linebackers' meeting room.
