Every NFL team’s greatest running back of all time
By Randy Gurzi
Jamal Lewis. player. 26. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. RB. 2000-06.
When Jamal Lewis joined the Baltimore Ravens in 2000, he had some big shoes to fill, as he supplanted Priest Holmes as the lead back. Holmes was a talented runner, but Lewis took over as a rookie and quickly asserted his dominance.
For the defensive-oriented franchise, Lewis was a clock killer who ran the ball 309 times as a rookie. He finished with 1,363 yards that year and score six touchdowns. Baltimore continued to use his services heavily in the postseason, as the Ravens made it to their first-ever Super Bowl.
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Lewis was still just 21-years-old then and became the youngest player in history to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl — he was also the first rookie to ever top the 100-yard rushing mark in the title game’s history.
A training camp knee injury cost Lewis his second season, but he bounced back in 2002 with another 1,300-yard performance. However, it was 2003 when he really made his presence felt in the NFL.
That year, Lewis ran for 2,066 yards and had 14 touchdowns. He was 40 yards away from the NFL record for yards in a single season and was just the fifth player to cross the 2,000-yard mark in league history at that time.
Lewis ended up playing six seasons for Baltimore and is the No. 1 rusher in franchise history with 7,801 yards. He still has the most rushing touchdowns with 45. After he was done in Baltimore, Lewis joined the Cleveland Browns and had two more seasons with at least 1,000 yards.
He was a bulldozer of a running back that wore opponents down and got better as the game went on. To this day, his tough approach to the game serves as a defining characteristic of the smash-mouth style of football the Ravens are known for.