Ozzie's Draft Tales: 7th round

We will be looking over the history of the Baltimore Ravens' draft picks one round at a time. Today we start with the 7th round and listing out any pick that had been a regular contributor for the Ravens over the years. Out of 21 7th round picks, arguably there no players that actually stand out as regular contributors. But being that this is the last round and teams typically take flyers on players in this round, we'll shorten our criteria a little bit.

Over the 17 drafts and 21 total 7th round picks, most players didn't make the starting day roster and even fewer are names that Ravens fans would know. Jon Stark are the types of names you see and no that isn't a Game of Thrones reference, but a quarterback from Trinity International and the Raven's last pick from their 1996 draft.

Anthony Poindexter - Safety - Virginia - 1999 Draft

Poindexter ended his final season at Virginia with a nasty injury to his knee, tearing his ACL and other ligaments. The injury would keep him from the NFL Combine and even from Virginia's own pro day. The Ravens took a chance on him in the 7th round even though he was expected to go undrafted do to his injury. His rookie season saw him on injured reserve but in 2000, Poindexter would be featured on special teams for 10 games but would not play during Super Bowl XXXV. He was cut from the team that following offseason and would play only 1 more year in the NFL before retiring. He is currently a defensive coordinator for the University of Connecticut.

Brian Rimpf - Guard - East Carolina - 2004 Draft

Rimpf was a guard for the Ravens for 3 seasons. He was mostly used as depth but did see game time in the 2005 season with 15 games and 7 of them started. However, after the 2006 season he would be out of professional football but would play two seasons with the Arena Football League and United Football League. At this time, he is a high school teacher and football coach in North Carolina.

DeAngelo Tyson - Defensive End - Georgia - 2012 Draft

Tyson is the most exciting 7th round pick in the history of the Ravens. He has been a regular contributor on a tough Ravens' defense notching 2 sacks, 21 tackles, and 1 interception. A rotational player, he is poised for a much larger role in 2014.

As we look at the Ravens' ability to draft players in the final round, it comes with serious question. It would be reasonable to say that 3 players out of 21 had decent playing time in Baltimore. Then again, as the final round in the draft, those players all come with major question marks that involve character, injury or general talent that means that few of those drafted in the 7th round ever see the field and even fewer go on to have good careers. Overall the Ravens are probably no better or worse than any other team at selecting players in the final round, but it should be noted that very few players in this round even contribute, much less start.