Check out the nice piece Kris Jones did on Kelechi Osemele. The rookie really has had a nice season.

I got a little hung up on the opening line from this piece, however.

In a 2012 draft class that is shaping up to be average at best for the Ravens...
That got me to think about how average or not this draft class has been for the Ravens. While there are no big stars probably -- not in a class that had Luck, RG3, Wilson, for instance, it was maybe better than average. At least compared to the last ten Ravens drafts when I looked at them.

Below I subjectively list the best three picks in each draft (and the round selected) I also noted anytime a pick from the first three rounds never really panned out at all -- the busts -- or the picks from rounds 4 and on who overachieved and became regular contributors in the league. Finally, I tried to note how many picks "stuck" in the league long enough to be considered a minimally productive pick/versus the guys who really never panned out from each class.

Where does 2012's class fall? Too early to say for sure, but surely better than the god-awful 2004 and 2005 classes (the Phil Savage era) where I couldn't even bring myself to list a top three.

While there will probably be no stars, I'm not sure how many classes can match the top three as being guys who could become solid role players for a long time, at the very least, and maybe more.

2002
Ed Reed 1st
Dave Zastudil 4th
Chester Taylor 6th
Bust: None
Sleeper: Taylor
Sticks: 5/10

2003
Terrell Suggs 1st
Jarret Johnson 4th
Aubrayo Franklin 5th
Bust: Kyle Boller
Sleeper: Johnson, Ovie Mughelli, Franklin
Sticks: 6/10

2004
Dwan Edwards 2nd
n/a
n/a
Bust: Devard Darling
Sleeper: None
Sticks: 1/7

2005
Mark Clayton 1st
Jason Brown 4th
n/a
Bust: Dan Cody, Adam Terry
Sleeper: Brown
Sticks: 4/7

2006
Haloti Ngata 1st
Dawan Landry 5th
Sam Koch 6th
Bust: David Pittman
Sleeper: Landry, Koch
Sticks: 8/10

2007
Ben Grubbs 1st
Marshal Yanda 3rd
Le'Ron McClain 4th
Bust: Yamon Figurs
Sleeper: McClain
Sticks: 6/8

2008
Joe Flacco 1st
Ray Rice 2nd
Tom Zbikowski 3rd
Bust: Tavares Gooden, Oniel Cousins
Sleeper: None
Sticks 4/10

2009
Michael Oher 1st
Paul Kruger 2nd
Lardarius Webb 3rd
Bust: None
Sleeper: None

2010
Ed Dickson 3rd
Dennis Pitta 4th
Arthur Jones 5th
Bust: Sergio Kindle, Terrence Cody
Sleeper: Jones
Sticks 6/7

2011
Torrey Smith 2nd
Jah Reid 3rd
Pernell McPhee 5th
Bust: Jimmy Smith
Sleeper: McPhee
Sticks: 8/8

2012
Courtney Upshaw 2nd
Kelechi Osemele 2nd
Bernard Pierce 3rd
Bust: None
Sleeper: DeAngelo Tyson, 7th
Sticks: 7/8


It's very subjective. You may weigh a class with one star but then a bunch of marginal picks (eg, 2002) higher than I do.

Or, unlike me, you may downgrade a draft with a clear bust, even though they still salvaged a handful of really good picks from that same class (eg, 2003)

When all is said in done, where do you rank 2012 among these ten drafts?

Bear in mind, I think they only held a top-15 pick three times in these ten drafts (the drafts they selected Suggs, Ngata, and Flacco -- in 2008 they sent the 8th pick to the Jags, and then traded back up from the bottom of the first round to take Flacco 18th.) I think it's hard to expect a star from drafts when you aren't picking in the top 15.