By Rich Campbell
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, April 30, 2007

OWINGS MILLS, Md., April 29 -- Troy Smith and his Heisman Trophy waited over the weekend while 173 players were drafted ahead of him. When he finally received word that he had been picked Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens were on the other end of the line.

Baltimore drafted Smith, the quarterback of Ohio State's national runner-up team last season, in the fifth round, headlining four picks on Day 2 of the draft. Although he was voted college football's best player last season, concerns about his height (6 feet 1) caused teams to doubt his potential as an NFL quarterback. His draft stock fell, and eight quarterbacks were selected ahead of him.

"The critics are going to be here for the rest of my life," Smith said. "There's nothing I can do about them. In a lot of ways, they make people stronger or they take people under. My whole life I've been fighting that battle. It turned out positive right now and I'm going to continue to stay the course and fight the critics."

Smith's powerful arm and leadership helped the Buckeyes win the Big 10 Conference championship the last two seasons. He completed 63 percent of his passes in three seasons as Ohio State's quarterback, and he won almost all of college football's top individual awards last season after throwing for 2,542 yards, 30 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in 13 games.

The Ravens carried only two quarterbacks, Steve McNair and Kyle Boller, instead of three on their active roster last season, so Smith's chances of making the roster appear good.

"The wait wasn't . . . a concern for me," Smith said. "The concern was the organization that I was going to get a chance to be a part of. This is the ideal fit, playing for a winning team."

Smith, however, can't be dubbed the Ravens' quarterback of the future just yet. Boller was a first-round pick in 2003 and is entrenched as McNair's backup. He hasn't proven he can be a franchise quarterback, though, and his contract expires at the end of next season.

Also, recent Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks have had mixed success in the NFL. Danny Wuerffel (1996), Chris Weinke (2000), Eric Crouch (2001) and Jason White (2003) are all out of the league. Carson Palmer (2002) and Matt Leinart (2004) are both starters, but they were top 10 draft picks.

"I've watched [Smith] play for two years in many big games," Ravens Director of College Scouting Eric DeCosta said. "I love his poise, he's got a leadership to him that is unique to his position in college football. He's respected. He's got an absolute cannon for an arm. We think he's got an upside to help us and emerge as a backup for us at some point and maybe more than that."

Meantime, Baltimore rounded out its draft Sunday by adding depth to its corps of linebackers and a fullback.

Florida International linebacker Antwan Barnes (fourth round) and Michigan linebacker Prescott Burgess (sixth round) could contribute next season, mainly on special teams.

Alabama's Le'Ron McClain was widely regarded as the best fullback in the draft, and the Ravens picked him in the fourth round to replace Ovie Mughelli, who left in free agency.

"I think we'll look back on this draft three, four years [from now] and you are going to be able to look at bunch of players that are major contributors to a team that was 13-3 and hopefully positioned themselves to go deeper into the playoffs next year," General Manager Ozzie Newsome said.