Cameron, meanwhile, was distraught that the Ravens passed on wide receiver James Hardy, but would find Rice to be a most effective tool in the offense in the coming years especially when McGahee, who was coming off of a Pro Bowl visit in 2007, battled injuries.
Moving back with the Hardy pick from No. 38 to 55 was done in the belief that Rice would be available later in the round. He was small. Scouts didn’t love him despite him being a finalist for the Doak Walker Award as a junior.
He had warts. They all do.
And there had already been a huge run on running backs – Darren McFadden (Oakland, 4th), Jonathan Stewart (Carolina, 13th), Felix Jones (Dallas, 22nd), Rashard Mendenhall (Pittsburgh, 23rd), Chris Johnson (Tennessee, 24th), and Matt Forte (Chicago, 44th) were all off the board.
Rice says the Detroit Lions told him they’d be taking him at No. 45, and he was floored when they chose Colorado linebacker Jordon Dizon instead. Rice fumed, left the room where his family was gathered in New Rochelle and still will tell you that he’s angry about it and will never get over it.
It would be the final time he would ever be overlooked by an NFL team.
Newsome felt confident that Rice would still be on the board at No. 55, and he was right.
A text went off in the Ravens War Room immediately following the pick of Rice. It was from NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock.
It read: “You just stole Belichick’s pick!”
Belichick and the New England Patriots wound up picking Colorado cornerback Terrence Wheatley with the 62nd pick. The Lions, instead of drafting Rice, wound up picking Central Florida running back Kevin Smith with the 64th pick.
Belichick never picked a running back in the 2008 draft.
Rice would be a part of two playoff knockouts of Belichick and the Patriots in New England in his first five seasons – one almost singlehandedly. In January 2010, he gained 159 yards on 22 carries including an 83-yard sprint en route to a 33-14 Ravens win that saw a gimpy Joe Flacco go 4-for-10 for 34 yards of passing offense.
The NFL Draft is the great equalizer. It’s a chance for every team to take their Ray Rice or their Ray Lewis or their Joe Flacco if they’re savvy enough to game the system, manipulate picks up and down and, of course – like Indiana Jones — choose wisely.
But there’s also an incredible safety net for every franchise.
In the NFL there is true socialism amongst the talent pool. If you fail on the field, you get the first opportunity or the “reward” of getting the best available talent the following year. And, as the Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals proved for the better part of two decades, even picking in the top part of the draft perennially doesn’t guarantee improvement if you can’t properly identify talent.
