Bests and Worsts from Baltimore Ravens Draft History

This time of year brings out the best and worst in NFL fanbases. For the Ravens, it brings out the best, as fans reminisce through Ozzie Newsome’s many triumphs in the Ravens draft history. Let’s take a look back through the Ravens’ 20 years of drafting for some superlatives.

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Best First-Round Pick – Ray Lewis, 1996 (Honorable Mentions: Jonathan Ogden, Ed Reed)

There was a lot of competition for this, but selecting the most dominant defensive player of the past 20 years at the end of the first round is as good as it gets. Ray Lewis is the most important player in franchise history and was the clear choice as the team’s best ever first-round pick.

Worst First-Round Pick – Kyle Boller, 2003 (Honorable Mentions: Matt Elam, Travis Taylor)

While Matt Elam and Travis Taylor were huge disappointments, neither of them set the franchise back years like Kyle Boller. The Ravens were just not ready to develop a franchise quarterback: They had nothing for Boller to throw to! Boller didn’t help matters with scattershot accuracy. The Ravens needed five years to recover from the Boller pick, which they finally did when they selected Joe Flacco 18th overall.

Best Second-Round Pick – Jamie Sharper, 1997 (Honorable Mentions: Torrey Smith, Paul Kruger)

There were slim pickings in the second round, believe it or not. I excluded Ray Rice, because despite his high points with the franchise, his violence against his then fiancee was deplorable and set the franchise back years. The ultimate selection, Jamie Sharper, was just a very good linebacker on a Super Bowl winning defense. Sharper ultimately moved on to Houston, but his time in Baltimore was valuable and makes him a worthy choice. Torrey Smith, the only Ravens’ draft pick to exceed 1,000 yards, and Paul Kruger get honorable mentions for their big roles in the Ravens’ second championship.

Worst Second-Round Pick – Arthur Brown, 2013 (Honorable Mentions: Patrick Johnson, Dan Cody, Sergio Kindle)

The Arthur Brown pick was given an A in most, if not all draft grades following the 2013 NFL draft. Since then, he has barely played a down and has been supplanted on the depth chart by an undrafted free agent. Unlike Dan Cody and Sergio Kindle, who can’t entirely be blamed for their failure to produce due to their injury situations, Arthur Brown has been healthy and has had opportunities in camp. He just hasn’t taken advantage of them.

Best Mid-to-late-Round Pick – Adalius Thomas, 2000 (Honorable Mentions: Marshal Yanda, Brandon Williams, Edwin Muitalo, Jarret Johnson)

The Ravens have had no trouble finding quality starters late in the draft, as the above names indicate. Adalius Thomas gets the nod, with Marshal Yanda a close second, as Thomas was a sixth-round pick who developed into a true impact player on defense. The Ravens took a flyer on a guy with immense physical attributes and turned him into something special, a guy who could cover, rush the passer and play the run.

Yanda deserves mention as a potential Hall of Famer. Brandon Williams may be the best player on the Ravens’ defense right now, which is quite the feat for a third-round pick. Edwin Muitalo is well behind Marshal Yanda on the Ravens’ pecking order of guards over the years, but he was a solid long-term starter. Same goes for Jarret Johnson, who was a solid long-term starter but never a star.

Best Draft Day Trade: 1999 second-round pick for Atlanta Falcons’ 2000 first-round pick

Any time a team has a chance to trade a second-round pick for a first, do it. The 42nd pick in the 1999 draft, which the Falcons used to draft tight end Reggie Kelly, turned into the fifth pick. The Ravens used that pick on Jamal Lewis, a key player in their 2000 Super Bowl run, the franchise’s leading rusher, and one of the only players to rush for over 2,000 yards in a single season in NFL history. Not bad.

Worst Draft Day Trade: 15th and 42nd picks for the 10th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft

Not only was Travis Taylor one of the worst picks in franchise history, but the Ravens traded up to get him. This was a deep draft: There were six straight Pro Bowlers selected from 12-17 (though one was Sebastian Janikowski, so take that with a grain of salt). The Ravens gave up a high second-round pick to move up five spots in a move that did not pan out at all.

Best Draft Class: 1996 (Jon Ogden, Ray Lewis, DeRon Jenkins, Jermain Lewis, Dexter Daniels, James Roe, Jon Stark)

Two Hall of Famers and one of the best returners in the NFL for a few years? Call that a win. Other classes might have produced more quality players in total, but no draft class can match the impact that the 1996 group did. Ogden and Lewis set the Ravens up for success for a decade.

Worst Draft Class: 2004 (Dwan Edwards, Devard Darling, Roderick Green, Josh Harris, Clarence Moore, Derek Abney, Brian Rimpf)

Only Dawn Edwards ever found success at the NFL level from the Ravens’ 2004 draft class, and much of his success was in Carolina. Devard Darling was a bust, and most of the rest of the class never played at all. Clarence Moore did flash as a rookie, but he fell off quickly. 

The 2010 class deserves an honorable mention. The best players to come out of that group were Arthur Jones and Dennis Pitta. Pitta was invaluable for the Ravens in the Super Bowl, though, and Arthur Jones had a very nice two-year stretch in Baltimore, but taking Sergio Kindle and Terrence Cody with their first two picks hurt. 

Also, the 2012 class deserves mention. After Kelechi Osemele and Courtney Upshaw left in free agency, there is not a single player left from that draft class on the roster. The only reason this class didn’t get a nod is because of Kelechi Osemele, who is a Pro Bowl talent the Ravens just couldn’t afford.