Ravens Top 10 Draft Picks Of the Last 10 Years: #6 Torrey Smith
Feb 3, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith (82) poses with the cheerleaders after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-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.
Now we have reached my favorite Raven. Mr. Torrey Smith. I wanted to rank Torrey a bit higher, but I had to be unbias and 6 felt pretty right for Torrey at this point. He could certainly rise to higher levels in the years to come.
The Ravens snagged Torrey Smith late in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft. They had been heavily linked to Torrey in the first round, but they bypassed him there in order to select Jimmy Smith. Luckily Smith was still waiting to hear his name called when the Ravens came on the clock for the second time. Torrey got to stay in Maryland.
As a Rookie, Torrey had some huge moments. He burst onto the scene by netting 153 yards and 3 TDs in his first start week 3 against the Rams. He singlehandedly carried the Ravens to a win. He had another huge moment when he caught the winning TD against the Steelers to all but finish the division race by locking up a clean sweep of the Steelers. He set Ravens Rookie Records with 7 TDs and 841 yards in just 14 games.
Torrey had an even bigger season in 2012, but suffered from an up and down season from the offense as a whole, but still finished with 855 yards and 8 TDs. This season he is expected to take the next step as he fully takes over the Ravens no. 1 WR role. He is also expected to benefit from the new offense of Jim Caldwell.
The thing that makes me love Torrey isnt just his play on the field, it is his actions and attitude off it. Torrey has been very active in the community and always seems to be among the best young men in the league. Torrey is a true professional in every sense of the word. He is the type of player that makes me proud to be a fan.