Ravens Not Worried About Rookie OL Injury

Baltimore Ravens seventh-round pick Nick Samac suffered a broken leg in November, but the team is hopeful he will return soon.

Michigan State's Nick Samac is helped up after an injury during the fourth quarter in the game | Nick King/Lansing State Journal via

It's been a little over five months since Baltimore Ravens rookie Nick Samac has played in a football game.

On Nov. 18, his Michigan State Spartans pulled out a 24-21 win against the Indiana Hoosiers, but it came at a price. Samac broke his leg, costing him the rest of his senior season.

That could be part of the reason why Samac fell to the No. 228 overall pick in the NFL Draft, but the Ravens scooped him up with the first of their two seventh-round selections. The Ravens have a real need on the interior offensive line, and they believe Samac could be part of it. However, he won't be at 100 percent right away.

"I think he'll be limited in the short term, but as we get into May, I think he'll be full strength," general manager Eric DeCosta said. "I mean, I asked him on the phone how he was doing, and he said, 'I'm fine. I'm healthy.' We'll probably break him in slowly, but [he's an] offensive linemen, [so he has a] tough guy mentality. We expect him out there pretty quickly."

Samac played center in college but was recruited as one of the top guard prospects in the country out of high school. That could give him the opportunity to compete against second-year pro Andrew Vorhees for a starting guard spot this fall.

The odds are certainly stacked against Samac being a seventh-round pick coming off an injury, but it will only be a matter of time before he's back on his feet again.

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