Every NFL team values different things when it comes to draft prospects. For the Baltimore Ravens, they take a holistic approach, taking into account everything from athletic testing numbers to film to meetings and more.
Baltimore added an athletic offensive lineman to their roster when they drafted Washington offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten with the No. 62 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. There are plenty of reasons why Rosengarten is athletic, but one of them is because of playing basketball, something which he explained during his introductory media call.
“Going back to my O-line meetings with [former Washington offensive line] coach Scott [Huff] in the O-line room, basically, what would happen was, he [would be] like, ‘Get to a good point. Get to a good position to punch in pass [protection], and then once you’re there, it’s basically just [like] playing basketball with them,’ and that for me just clicked right away – like you said. Whether that’s [like] you’re guarding a guy on the perimeter or interior, you block a guy with your feet first, and I find that very, very true with offensive line play. So, that basketball background definitely helps me out a ton.”
Rosengarten ran a sub-5.00 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine, and is known for his ability to pull, get out to the second level, and using his athleticism to his advantage. Basketball has certainly helped him get to the point he’s at today, and there are more similarities in the two games than people might think.