Why the Ravens drafted Roger Rosengarten

A look into the reasoning behind the Ravens’ pick of Roger Rosengarten at No. 62.

The Baltimore Ravens are committed to rebuilding their starting offensive line and entering the 2024 NFL Draft, tackle was their biggest need by a wide margin. After bypassing the position in the first round on Thursday in favor of addressing their second biggest need with the best player available in Nate Wiggins, coming away with a starting caliber tackle prospect on Day 2 was a necessity.

With this in mind, the selection of University of Washington’s Roger Rosengarten at No. 62 overall in the second round makes perfect sense. While Ravens’ general manager Eric DeCosta had his pick of either Rosengarten or BYU’s Kingsley Suamataia when he came on the clock, he opted to go with the more refined of the two promising prospects.

The Ravens landed a technically sound plug-and-play prospect in the same offseason they opted to move on from 10-year veteran stalwart Morgan Moses, who was a staple on their starting blocking unit the past two seasons before being traded to the New York Jets.

Rosengarten will push Daniel Faalele for the starting right tackle spot as a rookie and shouldn’t be ruled out as an eventual successor to Ronnie Stanley on the left side. He played on the right side the past two seasons for the Huskies because his coaches trusted him to protect the blindside of left-handed quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and he didn’t give up a single sack in 1,158 pass-blocking snaps during his college career according to Pro Football Focus with an overall grade of 78.6 since 2022.

Before Rosengarten blocked for a Heisman Trophy finalist who went No. 8 overall pick on Thursday night, he played on the left side in high school. At the next level, he will have a chance to compete to block for a former Heisman Trophy and two-time NFL MVP winner Lamar Jackson right away and could wind up being his blindside protector down the road.

Rosengarten is an underrated athlete who put on quite an impressive display of athleticism at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine when he was one of the better performers in his position group, including running a 4.92 in the 40-yard dash—the best among all linemen. He impressed at the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bow and his game tape shows an authoritative finisher who buries and pancakes defenders whether he is pass or run-blocking.

Choosing Rosengarten over Suamataia, who went one pick later after the Kansas City Chiefs traded up, is more telling than just wanting the more refined prospect when it comes to pass-blocking prowess. In offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s scheme, the Ravens need more nimble and agile offensive linemen capable of getting out on the move in space as opposed to the massive maulers they targeted when Greg Roman was designing and dialing up plays.