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Baltimore Ravens: Top 10 draft picks in franchise history

By Ian Schultz

ATLANTA, GA - FEBRUARY 02: Ed Reed (L) and Ray Lewis arrive at the Fanatics Super Bowl Party at College Football Hall of Fame on January 5, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Fanatics)
ATLANTA, GA - FEBRUARY 02: Ed Reed (L) and Ray Lewis arrive at the Fanatics Super Bowl Party at College Football Hall of Fame on January 5, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Fanatics) /
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BALTIMORE, MD – DECEMBER 24: Terrell Suggs #55 of the Baltimore Ravens celebrates after making a tackle against the Cleveland Browns during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium on December 24, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – DECEMBER 24: Terrell Suggs #55 of the Baltimore Ravens celebrates after making a tackle against the Cleveland Browns during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium on December 24, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

5. LB Terrell Suggs- 10th overall selection in 2003

Terrell Suggs exploded onto the scene in his rookie year tallying 12 sacks and taking home the 2003 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Suggs never looked back during the rest of his 16 year tenure Baltimore.

He recorded 10.5 sacks for his encore performance in 2004 and then had 35 sacks over his next five years. In 2010, he registered his third career 10+ sack season finishing with 11 and followed that up by taking home the 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award racking up 14 sacks and seven forced fumbles.

Suggs would accrue three more 10+ sack seasons all while doing an exemplary job of setting the EDGE in the running game. He was a member of the 2012 Super Bowl team and finished his Ravens career with a seven sack season before he departed from the Ravens via free agency in 2019.

Suggs is the Ravens all-time leader in sacks with 132.5 and forced fumbles with 33. Suggs’ 139 total sacks rank him eighth on the all-time list and are a huge part of the reason he should be receiving a call from Canton once he finally decides to call it quits.

4. QB Joe Flacco- 18th overall selection in 2008

For those of you new to the program, I am a Joe Flacco apologist. Deal with it.

The Ravens hadn’t exactly had a glowing reputation in the way of quarterback play prior to Flacco’s arrival in 2008. The jokes were aplenty talking of all the failed experiments that were mixed in with very few good ones. Tony Banks, Stoney Case, Scott Mitchell, Trent Dilfer (Yes he won a SB but still), Chris Redman, Elvis Grbac, Jeff Blake, and the king of draft busts Kyle Boller.

When Flacco arrived in Baltimore out of the University of Delaware, the Ravens had already wasted three seasons of elite NFL defense with the Boller experience. Flacco managed to guide the Ravens to five straight playoff appearances to start his career culminating in the greatest Super Bowl run of all time in 2012 where he threw for 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Related Story. Top 5 Joe Flacco moments. light

After being carried primarily by his defense in his first three playoff runs, Flacco was really good in the 2011 run that ended because of Lee Evans and Billy Cundiff, ELITE in the 2012 run, and superb in the 2014 run that ended because the Ravens had you, me, and Dupree at cornerback.

The Ravens were 96-67 in the regular season with Flacco at the helm and 10-5 in the playoffs. After the Super Bowl run, the team suffered some average years though they never finished with a losing record with a healthy Flacco. He provided stability at the game’s most vital position for 10+ seasons in Baltimore and was the Super Bowl MVP in 2012.

That’s enough to land him in the top four for me. I am sure you will all agree.

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