Oregon's top 10 players of the 2000s: #3 - Haloti Ngata
As we crack the top three, we take a closer look at UO's most dominant defensive lineman in history.
As the Oregon program began to establish more of a national presence in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Ducks started to pluck the occasional five-star recruit to add to the roster.
Haloti Ngata was one of those recruits, and he didn't disappoint. Ngata was widely considered the top defensive line prospect in the country, and when he joined the Ducks in 2002 he immediately started making an impact as a true freshman. He broke into the starting lineup by the fifth game against Arizona, and he never let go of his spot.
Ngata wowed everyone that season, often taking up at least two blockers on the line, which freed up his teammates to make the tackles. But Ngata claimed plenty of ball carriers for himself, ranking second on the defensive line in tackles. He also showed a remarkable talent for blocking kicks, picking up blocks against UCLA, USC and Washington. Ngata's play was so impressive that he was named a first team Freshman All-American.
Duck fans were excited to see how dominant Ngata could be with a year of experience and college strength training under his belt, but in the first quarter of the opening game of the season at Mississippi State, he suffered a season-ending knee injury as a blocker on the punt return team.
It took some time for Ngata to get back to full strength when he returned to the field in 2004, but once he got his legs back under him he was back to his old tricks. He blocked two more kicks that season, and he was named a second team All-Pac-10 selection.
With his knee issues behind him, Ngata was at his best in his final season as a Duck in 2005. He made a career high 14 tackles - including 11 unassisted - against California, and he even blocked two more kicks, giving him a school-record total of seven for his career. By the end of the year, he'd made 61 tackles, which led the Pac-10 for stops by an interior lineman.
Ngata made 151 tackles over the course of his career, and in addition to be named the Pac-10's Co-Defensive Player of The Year, he was honored as a consensus All-American, the first Duck to do so in more than 40 years.
His incredible strength (495-pound bench press, 550-pound squat) and surprising agility made him an elite prospect for the NFL. Ngata decided to leave Oregon after his junior season and enter the NFL Draft, where he was taken in the first round with the 12th overall pick by the Baltimore Ravens. Ngata again lived up to the hype as a pro, where he is now widely considered one of the best defensive lineman in the league.
