Baltimore Ravens: The Future of the Ring of Honor
By Joe Serpico
Oct 26, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Baltimore Ravens defensive end Haloti Ngata (92) knocks the ball away from Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) during the fourth quarter at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
While Ngata is the only active player not to be currently playing for the Ravens, his impact on this ball club is unquestioned. At a time when Ray Lewis was begging the front office for a dominanting presecese up-front, the Ravens moved up one spot in the 2006 NFL Draft just to make sure no one stole their man away from them.
The mammoth defensive lineman has recorded 445 tackles and 25.5 sacks while also facing six fumbles and intercepting five passes. Its hard to judge Ngata based on solely stats alone, but Ray Lewis has said that the main reason he continued to be successful down the stretch of his career was largely in part to Ngata’s ability to eat up blockers.
The Oregon product was an All Pro for five consecutive seasons from 2008 to 2012, but was traded to the Detroit Lions this offseason in exchange for a fourth and fifth-round pick in the upcoming draft. Regardless, Ngata will go down as the best nose tackle in team history and should find his way into the Ring of Honor.
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