Top 5 seasons from Baltimore Ravens players of All-Time
4. Derrick Mason’s 2007 season:
I don’t care that he only had five touchdown receptions, Derrick Mason’s 2007 season shouldn’t have been possible. The Ravens had three quarterbacks. Steve McNair got hurt. Kyle Boller was awful. Troy Smith was just as bad. Mason caught 103 passes for 1,087 yards. It’s incredible that in a very bad year for the Ravens, with very bad quarterback play, Mason had 100 grabs. Everything was working against Mason that season. He was the main target of an offense that didn’t have a ton of weapons too; everybody knew he was getting the ball and nobody stopped him from being the most productive player.
More from Ravens All-Time Lists
- Top 15 best draft picks in Baltimore Ravens history
- 4 most disappointing trades in Baltimore Ravens history
- Ravens Poll: 2000 Super Bowl winning team is the best in franchise history
- Ravens: 6 legends who made forgotten stops in Baltimore
- Baltimore Ravens: Top 5 game winning plays of all time
Mason had eight 1,000 yard seasons. That’s just what you expect out of a very solid and consistent receiver. His 2007 season was special. It wasn’t astronomical numbers that he put up. It wasn’t record breaking stuff. It was a golden sliver of goodness in a bad season. The fact is that the 2007 Ravens team needed Mason more than any other squad he’s been on. The fact of the matter is that he had his career high in receptions with the worst quarterback situation of his career.
That’s got to be recognized. That has to be on this list. Mason holds the franchise record for most catches in a season. Every person on this list has at least a franchise record of some significance from their performance. If you think Mason’s 2007 season is too high on this list, than you’re not accounting for how hard it was to do what he did that year. You have to see Mason’s 2007 season as a defining moment of his career. He was reliable. He stepped up his game when the team was going through a year where playoffs got off the table early. Mason was tough and gritty and he outdid what you could have expected from a number one receiver in this situation.