BALTIMORE -- Five observations on the 2003 Baltimore Ravens, gleaned from an Aug. 9 preseason game against the Buffalo Bills:

	Redman has started just six games in his career.

1. Coach Brian Billick, who has suggested he might not even announce his starting quarterback before the regular-season opener at Pittsburgh, because the uncertainty might provide his team a competitive edge, has a classic conundrum on his hands, it seems. For now, the quarterback more prepared to play, and to play steadily, is fourth-year veteran Chris Redman, who opened the 2002 season as the starter before missing the final 10 games with a disc injury which required surgery. Redman was characteristically efficient in his cameo against the Bills last Saturday evening. But the guy too often looks like a "paint by numbers" quarterback, a player who always takes what the defense is permitting him, and rarely challenges the secondary. Redman doesn't turn the ball over, displays good accuracy, and demonstrated no residual effects from his offseason back surgery. But there are times, like when he checks down to the running back on a third-and-12 play, when you want to just absolutely scream at him to at least throw the ball up the field once in a while. And even with his back woes behind him, Redman is very slow in the pocket. Redman assessed his own performance as "not bad," and that might well be an analysis of his entire career. The former Louisville star is a smart guy, knows where to deliver the football, and understands the Billick blueprint. But "not bad" at the quarterback position doesn't usually win you a Super Bowl title. The numbers for first-round choice Kyle Boller, for whom the Ravens sacrificed a second-round choice in the 2003 draft and their first-round pick next year, were very good but also deceiving. He was 10 for 21 for 124 yards and engineered a pair of touchdown drives. But the first came only after Boller clearly misread the Buffalo coverage, and threw the ball directly to Bills cornerback Terrence McGee, who allowed the seemingly certain interception to carom off his hands and into the arms of a Ravens receiver. There were a few other occasions on which Boller either left the pocket prematurely or was terribly off the mark with a pass. But it's clear that the former University of California star, a late-bloomer who never even completed 50 percent of his passes in a season until his senior year, is the more talented of the two quarterbacks and owns the much stronger arm. So who does Billick tab to begin the season? Certainly he will be tempted by Boller and, let's face it, the rookie still has another three preseason games in which to improve. But the guess here is that the Ravens will start the season with Redman as the shaky No. 1 guy, and that Boller will get some starts during the year, and maybe finish the campaign atop the depth chart. After all, Billick hasn't yet gotten through a season as a head coach with just one starter, and this year figures to extend that streak.

2. The Ravens' "other" first-round choice, No. 10 overall selection Terrell Suggs, will not oust journeyman veteran Cornell Brown for the starting job at right outside linebacker in the team's 3-4 defensive front any time soon. That's not a knock at Suggs, the former Arizona State defensive end, who set an NCAA record in 2002 with 24 sacks. Instead it is a reflection of two factors: Suggs definitely will need more time to become acclimated to playing in a two-point stance at linebacker and, frankly, Brown is playing really well and not ready to surrender his post to the rookie. For now, Suggs is playing left end in the Baltimore third-down "sub" package and, watching him against the Bills, it's clear that he needs to better develop his limited repertoire of pass-rush moves. Opposing players are aware of Suggs' initial quickness off the ball and, on his first snap on the field, he drew a false start penalty against Bills right offensive tackle Mike Williams. But the first move that Suggs always makes is straight up the field and, if a tackle locks onto him, it becomes pretty easy to just ride him beyond the quarterback. The first thing Suggs has to do is to "corner" better to the quarterback, to dip his shoulder and "make himself small," and to close on the pocket. After that, he has to refine some counter-techniques, to spin off the tackle and get inside leverage on him. That will come in time, as Suggs matures both physically and mentally, and begins to develop a feel for the tackles around the league. But it was wise of agent Gary Wichard to not permit any of Suggs' escalator levels to be tied to playing time. Instead, the escalator triggers are tied primarily to sacks. Good move, because Suggs may play little in "base" situations, but still get 10 sacks as a situational defender. Brown, by the way, continues to be a surprise. He's the kind of player who will never get much attention or respect. But he is a guy who simply knows how to play the game, is professional in his approach, and is more productive than people think.

3. No less than four times on the first 1½ pages of the press release for the preseason game against the Bills, it is noted the Ravens fielded the youngest roster in NFL history in 2002. A little bit redundant? Definitely. Worth hammering home the point that, despite a roster that included 19 first-year players, the Ravens still went into the final two weeks of last season with a chance to purloin a playoff berth? For sure. The current roster includes 64 players with less than three seasons of league experience. Only kicker Matt Stover, now in his 14th campaign, is in double digits seniority-wise. Some observers might say it's hard to believe this is a franchise that won a Super Bowl title just three years ago. But even more remarkable is that the Ravens are only a season removed from one of the most painful salary cap purges in NFL history. When owner Art Modell made the conscious decision after Super Bowl XXXV to hold the club together one more year, in an effort to defend the crown, everyone understood the cap excesses would force a roster overhaul. But the paring left the Ravens little choice but to refurbish with relatively cheap labor and the fact the team was still competitive, and eventually concluded 2002 with a 7-9 mark, is testimony to superb personnel moves and good coaching (a major concession on our part, given Billick's insufferable bent). General manager Ozzie Newsome and personnel chief Phil Savage form one of the game's best tandem of talent evaluators and their skills put the Ravens back in contention sooner than anyone thought possible. There remains superb veterans like linebackers Ray Lewis and Peter Boulware, cornerback Chris McAlister, tailback Jamal Lewis and offensive left tackle Jonathan Ogden. But the fortunes of the Ravens rest even more so with youngsters like wide receiver Travis Taylor, safeties Ed Reed and Gary Baxter, tight end Todd Heap, and whoever wins the quarterback job. Now that the Ravens have their salary cap house in order, Baltimore should be a team capable of competing for a playoff spot for several years, and perhaps of securing another Super Bowl title in the near future.

4. Speaking of safeties Reed (strong) and Baxter (free), they figure to be one of the top young pairings in the NFL in 2003, a couple of defenders with solid collective "ball" skills. Baxter is somewhat reluctantly making the move back to safety, where he began his career in '01, after starting 14 games at cornerback last season. Baxter would prefer to remain on the corner, but the Ravens know the importance of having a safety who owns corner-type coverage skills, and he looks way too much at home playing free safety to dislodge him again. One note about the Baxter move: It means that ninth-year veteran Corey Fuller, originally signed to move to safety, will play the cornerback spot. There are teams in the league who insist Fuller, at age 32, has lost something. Cleveland released him in the offseason, largely because the coaches felt he was no longer a top-shelf cover guy, and was making too much money. For the switch of Baxter to work, Fuller will have to play well, and so will some of the backup corners. This is not a very deep club at the position and the Ravens are holding their breath that often-injured Tom Knight, a former first-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals, can finally stay healthy. Knight fought through some early camp injuries, but looked pretty good on Friday night. But back to the safeties: Newsome feels Reed, the team's first-round choice in 2002, is poised to become a Pro Bowl performer and it is difficult to argue that contention. The former University of Miami standout started all 16 games as a rookie and had five interceptions. Reed is smart, a tremendous student of the game, doesn't run all that well, but is always around the ball. He brings a rare passion to the field and a maturity that belies his youth.

5. Baltimore signed veteran wide receivers Frank Sanders and Marcus Robinson to bolster a glaring area of need, but the player who really needs to emerge as a playmaker is fourth-year veteran Travis Taylor, a first-round choice in 2000. Taylor is another one of those former University of Florida wideouts who just seems incapable of transferring their college success to the next level. It is way too premature, and Taylor possesses far too much raw talent, to write him off as just another Gators bust. But every player reaches a make-or-break season in his NFL career and 2003 is put-up-or-shut-up time for Taylor. For the first time in his career, Taylor actually played in all 16 games in 2002, and that is a good sign for a youngster who battled injuries for two years. Taylor had 61 catches for 869 yards and six touchdowns. The receptions were only eight fewer than he totaled in his first two seasons, while the yardage was more, and the touchdowns equaled his career output. Baltimore relies a lot on emerging tight end Todd Heap but has to get the ball to the outside and up the field and the team hopes Sanders or Robinson can change that. But Sanders has always been a possession receiver and Robinson has demonstrated no signs he is capable of again being the big-play threat he was before a spate of injuries began in 2000. So Taylor might be the lone viable hope for the deep game. In 2002, no Ravens wide receiver beyond Taylor had more than 24 catches. Don't be surprised if second-year veteran Ron Johnson, currently battling for the No. 3 job, ends up as the No. 2 wide receiver. No matter who wins the second job, however, Taylor has to establish himself as a vertical threat.

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