Sports Illustrated and ESPN.com unveiled some good preview material today so as a follow-up to yesterday's piece, here are some more Ravens links that I just saw pop up:

Sports Illustrated's Peter King ranks the top 500 players in the NFL, and the Ravens are tied with the Chargers for the most players in the top-100 with eight. Writes King:

The Ravens, who were only 19-14 with no playoff wins over the last two years, have eight players in the top 100 (tied with the Chargers for most), including the virtually unknown Kelly Gregg at 83. ...The reason for all the Ravens: the vastly talented and well-schemed defense, built through G.M. Ozzie Newsome's drafts. Even with Adalius Thomas gone to New England, seven of the top 88 players on the list are Ravens defenders. Gregg at defensive tackle, for instance, consistently draws two blockers and is one of best pocket crashers in the game. If only they could pick wideouts the way they pick linebackers.

I've picked out the Ravens on the list along with King's comment for most of them:

12. Ed Reed - B+ cover guy, A+ hitter

53. Bart Scott - Ferocity, speed of Ray Lewis, circa 2000

56. Terrell Suggs - Will have a 20-sack season soon

59. Todd Heap - Just 12 fewer catches than Gates in '05-06

61. Trevor Pryce - Makes Scott and Suggs premier players

83. Kelly Gregg - Greatest overachiever in the league

86. Ray Lewis - 80% of classic Ray is still pretty good

88. Chris McAlister - Must reduce his penalties (16 in '06)

114. Jonathan Ogden - Two years beyond his real greatness

156. Steve McNair - Will he start 16 games Or six

254. Mark Clayton - Forming nice bond with Steve McNair

267. Dawan Landry - Following in Reed's physical footsteps

312. Haloti Ngata

358. Jarret Johnson

443. B.J. Sams

460. Ben Grubbs

Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden writes an in-depth feature detailing Scott's journey to the NFL:

Between plays McNair approached Scott. "Man, just shut up over there," McNair said, yet he laughed because he knows the truth: There is no quieting Scott, and there is no quelling the emotion that he brings to every snap, every day. "Say this about Bart: He loves football," says Ravens All-Pro linebacker Ray Lewis. "That kind of passion is hard to find nowadays." 

Sports Illustrated's Don Banks picks the Ravens to win the AFC North but has them losing in the playoffs before the conference championship game:

A reason to believe: The Ravens have that swagger back on defense, and nobody does a better job than D-coordinator Rex Ryan of creatively game planning to attack and exploit an opponent.

The thing that makes you nervous: Everyone in Baltimore seems to believe that Steve McNair will be even better and more proficient in Year 2 in the Ravens offense. But I can't get that egg he laid in the playoffs against Indianapolis completely out of my mind.

Scouts, Inc. also picks the Ravens to win the division.

The Ravens are No. 5 in ESPN.com's Week 1 power rankings:

Besides having younger legs at RB (Willis McGahee), the Ravens have loads of experience. But the flip side of being a veteran team is being an injury-prone one. Which way that pendulum swings might determine their fate.

Eleven of 16 ESPN.com analysts pick the Ravens to win the AFC North. ESPN.com's Jeffri Chadiha picks the Ravens to beat the Bears in the Super Bowl. Joe Theismann picks the Ravens to beat the Saints for the championship. And finally, Michael Smith picks the Ravens to beat the Eagles.