Flashback Friday: Baltimore Ravens 2006 NFL Draft Class

Haloti Ngata just retired as a member of the Baltimore Ravens. He’s a Raven for life and it’s got me thinking about the 2006 NFL Draft class of the purple and black:

The Baltimore Ravens 2006 NFL Draft class was essentially a mixed bag. There were a couple of hits. Haloti Ngata was the perfect use of the 12th overall pick, which is just stating the obvious. Dawan Landry in the fifth round was a steal. He played five seasons with the Ravens. Punters don’t always get drafted but the Ravens sixth round selection of Sam Koch paid off for them.

Ngata went to five Pro Bowls and will be inducted into the ring of honor this season. Ngata, who may be the most athletic man you’ll ever see at that size had a huge impact on the franchise. He had three seasons with five or more sacks and was good for 50-60 tackles a year as an immovable force.

Landry had an instant impact with the Ravens. He had five interceptions and three sacks as a rookie and he even scored a defensive touchdown. His best season was probably in 2009 where he had 89 tackles and four picks. Landry was a good complimentary player to put next to Ed Reed, who of course was a history making ball hawk.

More from Ebony Bird

• Will Baltimore Ravens be rewarded for risky Lamar Jackson decision?
• The Baltimore Ravens Big Gamble
• Ravens Super Bowl odds present fascinating insight on Lamar Jackson’s future
• Should Baltimore Ravens be interested in this recently released WR
• Do the Baltimore Ravens have serious interest in this free agent wide out?

Koch’s most memorable moment was running around in the back of the end zone in the Super Bowl to run out clock and have an intentional safety. He’s also had several memorable fake punts. One way or another Koch’s career is measured by what he does with his punting leg. In his career he has punted for over 39,967 yards and has pinned teams inside their own 20 yard line 384 times. That’s a sixth round pick that worked out for the Ravens to say the least.

That’s the good with the 2006 draft but again it was mostly a mixed bag. The Ravens took some horrible swings and misses here. You may not remember David Pittman, who only last four years in the NFL (two with the Ravens). Pittman was a third round pick so the Ravens lost out on that.

Do you remember Demetrius Williams? He had 63 career receptions. He didn’t have 63 receptions in a season, he had 63 receptions in the whole shebang. Chris Chester was a decent offensive lineman who started a fair amount of games for the Ravens. It’s hard to call him a bust, though he’s the fourth best player in a draft haul with only three notable names.

The Ravens also drafted, P.J. Dainiels, Quinn Sypniewski, Derrick Martin and Ryan Lacasse. In other words the Ravens had 10 picks and six of them were pretty much misses. Sometimes it’s not about the misses, it’s about the players that worked out. That can truly be said about the 2006 draft class of the purple and black. They had three hits and they were some of their greatest hits.