Ravens Top 10 Draft Picks Of the Last 10 Years: #9 Dennis Pitta
Feb 3, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta (88) avoids a tackle in the third quarter against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
With The Draft upcoming, i thought it would be appropriate to take a look at some of the shining accomplishment and most glaring faults in terms of draft picks.
Now That I Have Recapped the Ravens 10 worst draft picks, lets get to the good stuff, Here are the Ravens 10 best draft picks of the past 10 years. Like with the worst picks, I have a few parameters here.
- Players who signed a second contract with the team were given priority over those who did not.
- Non Starters were not included. There are way to many good picks for me to include players who don’t start, at least occasionally.
- Players on the Superbowl squad were given the edge over players who were not.
- Proven commodities are worth more than potential success.
Those arent shackling restraints, but because the Ravens draft so well, this was actually a bit of a challenge. There are probably a lot of player that should have made this list but didn’t, just because there wasn’t enough room on the list to include everyone.
Dennis Pitta Might be the biggest steal the Ravens have had over the past 4 years.
The Ravens snagged Pitta in the fourth round of the 2010 Draft, the same draft which featured notable bust Sergio Kindle. That draft was absolutely loaded with TE talent. Jermaine Gresham was the first TE drafted, followed by Rob Gronkowski, Ed Dickson, Tony Moeaki, Jimmy Graham, Aaron Hernandez and Then Dennis Pitta. everyone on that list aside from Hernandez and Dickson are starters for their teams, and both of those guys are part of heavy 2 TE set offenses.
Pitta has developed into the third best TE from that class(which isnt bad considering Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski are probably the best two TEs in the league), despite being the 7th taken. Pitta was a major key to the Ravens super bowl run. Pitta has developed as Flaccos’ favorite target, and , from what I have heard, also his best friend. Pitta had his best regular season this year with 7 TDs, but he really took control in the playoffs when he notched 14 receptions for 163 yards and 3 scores, including one in each the AFC championship and the Superbowl.
Anytime you can find a starter(especially one as good as Pitta) in the fourth round or later, that is an awesome pick. Pitta is a stud, look for the Ravens to lock him down with a new contract before the season starts. Pitta wants to be in Baltimore, Flacco and he are good friends, The Ravens want to keep him, should be an easy deal to get done.