Super Bowl XLVII: Building the Ravens and 49ers

Greetings.

I do a lot for Neon Tommy, so I’ve been putting my work on The NU on the backburner for a bit longer than I want.

That being said, I do work for all the peoples, and I’ll continue to do so here.

I’m on record saying the 2012 AFC Champion Baltimore Ravens will defeat the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers 26-24, with Joe Flacco as the MVP and Ray Ray getting his cry on extra hard.

Because I don’t have the time to go all crazy for you (and because this article needs more life anyway, being that peeps will catch this either after the game or not at all), I’ll just go into what this post will be about.

I put a text document together about building these two teams. I will drop it here. Anytime you see a number (i.e., “1st”), it means that the player was added via the draft. “T” means trade, “FA” means free agent, while “CFA” means undrafted college free agent. “W” means claimed off waivers. Ravens starters are labeled purple. 49ers starters are labeled red.

Analysis? Use the draft. Shoutout to Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome and 49ers general manager Trent Baalke:

RAVENS

1996: ILB Lewis (1st)

2002: FS Reed (1st)

2003: OLB Suggs (1st)

2006: DE Ngata (1st), P Koch (6th)

2007: RG Yanda (3rd)

2008: HC Harbaugh, QB Flacco (1st), RB Rice (2nd), ILB McClain (CFA), ILB Ayanbadejo (FA)

2009: C Birk (FA), RT Oher (1st), OLB Kruger (2nd), CB Webb (3rd), ILB Ellerbe (CFA), CB Williams (FA)

2010: WR Boldin (T), NT Cody (2nd), TE Dickson (3rd), TE Pitta (4th), WR Reed (5th), DE Jones (5th), OL Harewood (6th), OLB McClellan (CFA), LS Cox (CFA)

2011: CB Smith (1st), WR Smith (2nd), OL Reid (3rd), WR Doss (4th), CB Brown (5th), DE McPhee (5th), QB Taylor (6th), RB Allen (7th), ILB Bynes (CFA), FB Leach (FA), LT McKinnie (FA), SS Pollard (FA)

2012: DC Pees, OLB Upshaw (2nd), LG Osemele (2nd), RB Pierce (3rd), OL Gradkowski (4th), FS Thompson (4th), CB Jackson (5th), WR Streeter (6th), DE Tyson (7th), K Tucker (CFA), WR/RS Jones (FA), TE Bajema (FA), OL Williams (FA), NT Kemoeatu (FA), CB Graham (FA), CB Johnson (FA), SS Ihedigbo (FA), OC Caldwell

Slightly more analysis: Only six players that played for head coach Brian Billick are still on the roster. 2008 was a key year (Flacco, Rice), but the passing game grew in 2010 (Boldin, Pitta) and 2011 (Torrey Smith).

49ers

2000: LS Jennings (7th)

2004: NT Sopoaga (4th), P Lee (6th)

2005: QB Smith (1st), RB Gore (3rd)

2006: TE Davis (1st), OLB Haralson (5th), TE Walker (6th)

2007: ILB Willis (1st), LT Staley (1st), DE McDonald (3rd), FS Goldson (4th), CB Brown (5th)

2008: DE Smith (FA), OLB Brooks (W)

2009: WR Crabtree (1st), DT Jean-Francois (7th), RG Boone (CFA)

2010: RT Davis (1st), LG Iupati (1st), ILB Bowman (3rd), RB Dixon (6th), WR Williams (6th), CB Brock (CFA), WR Ginn (T), FB Tukuafu (FA), FS Spillman (W)

2011: HC Harbaugh, OC Roman, DC Fangio, C Goodwin (FA), CB Rogers (FA), SS Whitner (FA), K Akers (FA), OLB Smith (1st), QB Kaepernick (2nd), CB Culliver (3rd), RB Hunter (4th), OL Kilgore (5th), FB Miller (7th), ILB Wilhoite (CFA), ILB Grant (FA), ILB Gooden (FA)

2012: WR Jenkins (1st), RB James (2nd), OL Looney (4th), OLB Fleming (5th), FS Robinson (6th), OLB Johnson (7th), TE Celek (CFA), WR Manningham (FA), WR Moss (FA), CB Cox (FA), SS McBath (FA), OL Davis (FA), OLB Haggans (FA), WR Hall (FA)

Slightly more analysis: Like the Ravens, the draft has been good to San Francisco, but the defense has been aided by key free agent signings in 2008 (Justin Smith) and 2011 (Carlos Rogers and Donte Whitner).

We can always appreciate Jim Harbaugh’s evaluation process.

For more half-baked commentary, hit up @1maddskillz … I’ll leave you all with the real Super Bowl matchup … “What Time is It?” vs. “One Clap”!

-1SKILLZ