BALTIMORE -- In his baptismal 1999 season as an NFL head coach, Brian Billick underwhelmed the fans here by signing the modestly talented Scott Mitchell, and then wildly overestimated his own appraisal skills by publicly pronouncing that no one should be too alarmed by his choice of starters.

"Trust me," Billick intoned, "I know quarterbacks."

	Chris Redman didn't throw a pass in a regular season game last season.

It turned out to be not only a bad joke foisted upon a city whose NFL legacy includes passers such as Johnny Unitas and Bert Jones and Earl Morrall, but also a self-fulfilling prophecy as well. Billick knew quarterbacks, all right, and plenty of them. During his first three seasons with the Ravens, he used five different starters, and created a whirling dervish at a position where stability is a highly valued commodity. The biggest gaffe, of course, was in allowing Trent Dilfer, the man who stewarded the Ravens to a Super Bowl title in 2000, to depart in free agency last summer.

So in 2002, Billick will have a different starter in the regular season opener for the fourth time in four years.

The difference, though, this time around is that third-year veteran Chris Redman is apt to accomplish what Mitchell, Tony Banks and Elvis Grbac could not: Hold on to the starter's job for consecutive seasons.

Elevated from his No. 3 spot on the depth chart after Elvis left the building in a salary cap maneuver, and Randall Cunningham was not invited back and opted to retire, Redman has appeared in just two games and attempted but three passes since joining the Ravens as a third-round choice in 2000. Those numbers will explode exponentially just in the first week of the season alone as he takes over an offense with decent weaponry.

And if the rest of the league has scant expectations for Redman and for the Baltimore offense, the former Louisville standout thinks he and his mates can fool a few people, including the homeys who figure the Ravens will struggle during his apprenticeship period.

"I expect to be successful, and sooner than people think, really," Redman said after Thursday night's preseason loss to the New York Jets. "This is something I've been waiting for, not always patiently, and now that the opportunity is here, I want to set the bar high. I don't want to sound too (immodest) or anything, but I see this as my job, and for a long time."

The early indications are, indeed, that Redman could become a fixture here as significant as The Inner Harbor area. For openers, veteran Jeff Blake, the safety net/insurance policy signed as a free agent this spring, has struggled in camp and the preseason, and failed to make the move he privately plotted on the starting job. Second, Redman has displayed poise, some occasionally superb accuracy, and a hint of accelerating the learning curve.

He wears uniform No. 7 because his birthday is 7/7/77, and the Ravens hope he will put lots of 7's on the board during his career.

In truth, the Ravens had no choice but to quicken his gestation period as a starter, given Grbac's unceremonious departure. The tangible conclusion to Grbac's one-season tenure as the starter came in early spring when, unable to reach agreement on a reworked contract, the Ravens released him. To some of the Baltimore veterans, though, Grbac's lack of intestinal fortitude during the 2001 campaign signaled him as a short-timer.

Grbac was the personification of the deer in the headlights, did nothing to endear himself to teammates, disappeared at crunch time. There were few tears shed when he exited and, while Redman remains more a question mark than an exclamation point, he has quickly earned the respect of teammates.

Redman will not directly address the problems Grbac experienced, the lack of gumption teammates witnessed on a too-often basis, but he is obviously aware of the perception his predecessor evoked.

"When they look to you," he said, "they'd better see that special kind of 'something' in your eyes. You can't play well at any level if your people don't want to play for you. I want to make sure those guys have my back and I'm working to earn that respect from them."

Toward that end, Redman's work ethic in minicamps and training camp has been exemplary, his control of the huddle notable, his openness refreshing to veterans. Unlike his immediate predecessor, Redman has sought out players for guidance and for suggestions on all matters concerning the offense.

	"	I expect to be successful, and sooner than people think, really. This is something I've been waiting for, not always patiently, and now that the opportunity is here, I want to set the bar high. I don't want to sound too (immodest) or anything, but I see this as my job, and for a long time. "
		— Chris Redman, Ravens quarterback

"For all his outward confidence, Chris isn't afraid to say to a guy, 'Hey, did I get that ball where I needed to?' because he really wants to be perfect," claimed wide receiver Travis Taylor. "He's learning that part of the learning process is taking advantage of the people around him, but not taking anything too much for granted. Believe me, he's going to be fine, and he'll really start to shine once he gets some playing time."

The baptism under fire continued on Thursday night when Redman played into the third quarter and appeared relaxed and in control. Working in a new design where it appears the routes have been shortened a bit, and which will rely again on the running game now that tailback Jamal Lewis seems fully recovered from the knee injury that sidelined him for the entire '01 season, he displayed no hint of panic.

Redman, 25, threw the ball accurately, just missed some big plays, and did not rattle under pressure. It was actually on an incompletion, a long pass for rookie wide receiver Javin Hunter that was perfectly placed down the deep seam, where Redman demonstrated true promise. Although the ball flew just over Hunter's fingertips, it was deftly dropped between the defenders, even with the pass rush right in Redman's face.

Said Jets safety Sam Garnes: "He showed me something with that throw."

His lack of NFL experience aside, it isn't as if Redman hasn't had success throwing the football. At Louisville, he won the Unitas Golden Arm Award, threw for 12,251 yards and left the school as the Division I-A leader in both pass attempts (1,679) and completions (1,031). He had 85 touchdown passes and 51 interceptions.

For much of his senior year, Redman was regarded as the equal of Chad Pennington for the top quarterback prospect in the draft. But then at the predraft combine workouts in Indianapolis, he ran a poor 40-yard time and his stock plummeted. It is a spiral, all the way down to the 75th overall spot in the draft, that still puzzles Redman but doesn't bother him as much as it once did.

And since having a mobile quarterback has never been a high priority for Billick, who has coached the likes of Brad Johnson, the lack of elusiveness is hardly a concern.

"He's done well," said Billick of his new starter. "There been no sign that he is overwhelmed, mentally or physically, at this point. It's actually a pretty good situation because, given our current circumstances, we've got a very young team that should mature together with a young quarterback."

The better news: If Redman grows into the player Billick thinks he can be, the list of Ravens starters over the next several years should shrink to one.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.