Which player has been the best No. 26 pick in the NFL Draft?

The 2025 NFL Draft starts on April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with the 32 first-round picks. AL.com is counting down to the event by highlighting the best choice – overall, from the SEC and of players from Alabama high schools and colleges -- made with each of the first 32 picks in the 89 NFL drafts.

Best No. 26 pick: Miami (Fla.) linebacker Ray Lewis by the Baltimore Ravens in 1996

In his first year making the draft picks for the Baltimore Ravens, former Alabama All-American Ozzie Newsome took UCLA offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden at No. 4 and Miami (Fla.) linebacker Ray Lewis at No. 26. Each player entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Lewis spent 17 seasons with the Ravens and received Pro Bowl recognition in 12 of them. He also made first-team All-Pro seven times.

Lewis received the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2000 and 2003.

Baltimore won the Super Bowl twice with Lewis in the lineup. He received the game’s MVP award after the Ravens’ 34-7 victory over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV on Jan. 28, 2001. Baltimore won the NFL championship again when the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3, 2013.

Two other No. 26 picks are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame – guards Joe DeLamielleure, chosen from Michigan State by the Buffalo Bills in 1973, and Alan Faneca, chosen from LSU by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1998.

Last year’s No. 26 pick was Duke center Graham Barton by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Best No. 26 pick from the SEC: LSU guard Alan Faneca by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1998

Of the 17 SEC players who entered the NFL as the 26th pick in the draft, seven had careers that lasted at least 10 seasons.

The one who played the longest also had the most decorated career. In 13 seasons as a left guard in the NFL, Faneca was a first-team All-Pro selection six times and received nine Pro Bowl invitations.

Faneca missed two games in his career and started 201 regular-season contests. He also started 11 postseason games, including the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 21-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL on Feb. 5, 2006.

The most recent No. 26 pick from the SEC is Mississippi State defensive lineman Montez Sweat in 2019 by the Washington Redskins.

Best No. 26 pick with Alabama football roots: Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley by the Atlanta Falcons in 2018

Playing in the shadow of another former Crimson Tide receiver, Julio Jones, in Atlanta, Ridley had 127 receptions for 1,687 yards and 17 touchdowns in his first two seasons. Then when injuries limited Jones to nine games in 2020, Ridley had 90 receptions for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns.

Things went sideways for Ridley in 2021, when he left the team after five games, then missed the 2022 season serving an NFL-imposed suspension for violating the league’s gambling rules.

Ridley came back with a 1,000-yard season for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023 and another one for the Tennessee Titans in 2024.

With 388 receptions for 5,375 yards and 40 touchdowns, Ridley is among the 22 players in NFL history who have compiled those numbers in the first 83 games of their careers.

The Los Angeles Rams hold the No. 26 pick in the NFL Draft on April 24.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.