The NFL Draft is only one day away (finally no more Mock Drafts) and fans around the league are happy to focus on football and not labor issues. As I clicked around the Internet this morning I came across a breakdown of the Baltimore Ravens draft history at Ravens Insider – the Best and Worst of each Draft class.
Without further ado here are my picks.
1996
BEST: Ray Lewis, LB, Miami, First Round – The Ravens hit a home run (LT- Jonathan Ogden #4 Overall pick) and follow it up with a grand slam in the first round of their first draft. (Is that even possible?) Two Hall of Famers in a draft isn’t too shabby. Note that Lewis was the Fifth Linebacker selected behind players such as Kevin Hardy and John Mobley.
WORST: Deron Jenkins, CB, Tennessee, Third Round - The team traded three picks (In the 3rd, 4th and 7th) to get Jenkins. He only notched two interceptions in four seasons and has to be one of the All-Time Biggest Busts of the franchise.
1997
BEST: Peter Boulware, LB, Florida State, First Round -The fourth overall pick was a four-time Pro Bowl selection, the Defensive Rookie of the Year and an All-Pro in 1999. So begins the first round dominance of Ozzie Newsome.
WORST: Jay Graham, RB, Tennessee, Third Round – Baltimore strikes out again with a third round Volunteer. Graham averaged 3.5 yds. per carry in three seasons.
1998
BEST: Duane Starks, CB, Miami, First Round – An interception machine (20 in 4 seasons) who took advantage of playing with an aggressive front seven.
WORST: Patrick Johnson, WR, Oregon, Second Round – He was fast and that’s about it. He’s just one in a long list of drafted receivers that never made an impact. This draft class was very weak with names such as Ron Rodgers, Sammy Williams and Ryan Sutter that never became contributors.
1999
BEST: Chris McAlister, CB, Arizona, First Round – The first and only shutdown corner for the purple and black. Unfortunately for him he may be more remembered for his poor attitude but the guy could play.
WORST: Anthony Poindexter, SS, Virginia, Seventh Round - It’s unfair to put Poindexter on this list. He was a project coming off a major knee injury his Senior season and could never seem to overcome it. Baltimore only had four picks that year and Edwin Mulitalo and Brandon Stokley both helped the team to a championship.
2000
BEST: Adalius Thomas, LB, Southern Mississippi, Sixth Round - Make no mistake that Jamal Lewis was the best player from that season’s draft. He was a workhorse and his record breaking game against the Browns still stands in my mind as one of the greatest performances I’ve seen live. But Thomas became a versatile defender who was voted to two Pro Bowls and received an All Pro selection in 2006.
WORST: Travis Taylor, WR, Florida, First Round – Considered by some to be the biggest Ravens draft bust of all-time. In this draft Ozzie was hoping to sure up the offense for a long time with Lewis, Taylor, and Chris Redman. But just imagine if Oz would have taken a skinny kid out of Michigan (Tom Brady)instead Louisville’s Redman. How many championships would the Ravens have won?
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