Ozzie Newsome, the “Wizard of Oz” and G.M. of the Ravens, has produced an interesting trend of draft selections for Baltimore since the team came to town in 1996…
Ran into an interesting report over at the Ravens’ NFL.com site, which was kinda buried in the sidebars of much sexier subject matter, such as Tom Zbikowski’s burgeoning boxing career, Cheerleader tryouts, players organizing private workouts as a group, and Ray Rice’s bid to be voted on to the cover of Madden 12… Written by Ravens beat writer and columnist Sarah Ellison, her blog on Ozzie’s draft history with the Ravens is revealing in its details:
Did you know the Ravens have used 62.7 percent of their 83 draft picks in the last decade on offensive players?
Did you know that 26.5 percent of those 83 picks have been used on wide receivers and running backs? Of course only one of those was in the first round – receiver Mark Clayton.
Want another interesting tidbit? Despite selecting Todd Heap in the first round of the 2001 draft, the Ravens have selected six other tight ends over the last nine years.
Until Sarah reminded me of these facts, I had forgotten just how offensive-mind the Wizard of Oz historically has been in his draft strategy…
Here’s a few more tidbits of trend analysis:
Position breakdown of 52 offensive draftees since 2001:
Wide receiver: 12
Running back: 10
Tackle: 8
Tight end: 7
Quarterback: 6
Center: 5
Guard: 2
Punter: 2
Kicker: 0
Positional breakdown of 31 defensive draftees since 2001:
Linebacker: 8
Defensive end: 5
Defensive tackle: 4
Defensive Back: 5 (nickelback, I assume Sarah means by this line item)
Free safety: 3
Inside linebacker: 1
Outside linebacker: 2
Strong safety: 2
Cornerback: 1
Funny, but until you really see it broken down like that, it’s easy to assume the Ravens would have spent way more draft picks on front end of the defense…i.e., linemen… but they really haven’t.
Finally, Sarah reminds us of Ozzie’s track record in first-round selections since 2001. It is revealing:
2010: The Ravens traded out of the first round
2009: OT Michael Oher from Ole Miss at No. 23
2008: QB Joe Flacco from Delaware at No. 18
2007: G Ben Grubbs from Auburn at No. 29
2006: DT Haloti Ngata from Oregon at No. 12
2005: WR Mark Clayton from Oklahoma at No. 22
2004: The Ravens traded their first-round selection in 2003 to draft Kyle Boller
2003: OLB Terrell Suggs from Arizona State at No. 10
2003: QB Kyle Boller from California at No. 19
2002: SS Ed Reed from Miami at No. 24
2001: TE Todd Heap from Arizona State at No. 31
A lot of great hits on that list…a lot. And if you want to hold Oz to the fire on the Kyle Boller pick?—y’know, it’s not that Boller was a terrible player (he wasn’t, actually had some great games—see our article on Boller and the Draft Class of 2003)—it’s just that the cost of his pick was so damn expensive.
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