Ravens OT Roger Rosengarten Expects To Continue Upward Trajectory in Year 3

As was the case with the vast majority of young and veteran players on the Baltimore Ravens roster returning from a strong 2024 season that saw them get hot down the stretch and make it to the second round of the playoffs, the arrow was pointing up for offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten.

The former second-rounder opened his rookie season in a two-man rotation at the right bookend spot, but injuries forced him into the starting lineup on a full-time basis by Week 4. After he and the rest of the starting offensive line as a whole overcame some early-season growing pains, they turned into a strength for the team in the second half of the season

Rosengarten had some of his best games against the top edge rushers in the league, including going up against T.J. Watt three times and holding him without a sack in each of the last two. The arrow for him and the team as a whole was trending upward heading into the 2025 season, but they fell well short of lofty preseason hype and missed the playoffs altogether.

“Looking back on the whole season, it wasn't anywhere near where, as a team, where you wanted to be with all the losses and stuff.” Rosengarten said in a recent appearance on 'The Lounge' podcast. "As you look at the picture as a whole, you're like, man, that really sucked, and me looking at my game personally, I was like, man, what could I have done more.”

While he claims to have a “whole list of things” that he could’ve done better, his Pro Football Focus grades tell a different story than the one of regression many pundits believe he experienced last season. Rosengarten was the 12th-highest-graded right tackle in the league in his second year, with his pass-blocking grade improving from 69.2 as a rookie to 73.4 in 202, after he gave up 10 fewer pressures and yielded one fewer sack. He made significant strides in his run-blocking as well, with his PFF grade improving from 60.4 to 74.8.

“Looking back from my progression from my rookie year to my second year, and now going in (to year three), I feel like I've only gone up upwards with that,” Rosengarten said. “Establishing a really strong foundation for a rookie year, and building off that. I feel like everything between my technique and certain alignments and angles that I was looking to challenge from my second year, I only kept on going for it, so I kept that snowball rolling, and I think that showed within the numbers too.”

With the linear progression he has shown during his first two seasons, Rosengarten aspires to continue his ascent and become regarded as one of the upper-echelon right tackles in the game.

“Looking back on last season and the improvements I had within pass, run and in the things that off its alignment get scrutinized for, I think that is going to put me in a really good spot from last year to this year,” Rosengarten said. “(It) is going to really build that foundational block to where I established myself as one of the most elite right tackles in the game.

“We have a lot of good ones too. So when we talk tackles, I want to be in that, definitely that conversation, and I've had a lot of good guys to learn from.”

New offense is an ideal fit highlight strengths

Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten blocks against Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt. — Nov 17, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten (70) blocks at the line of scrimmage against Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt (90) during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Following the massive overhaul of the Ravens coaching staff following the firing of John Harbaugh and the hiring of Jesse Minter to replace him, Rosengarten has a new play caller and system for the first time in his career and a new position coach for the third time in three years.

Like many of his teammates who have spoken to the media since getting to know first-year offensive coordinator Declan Doyle and offensive line coach and run game coordinator Dwayne Ledford during the offseason program, his first impressions were overwhelmingly positive, and he is excited to embark on this next chapter for the offense and franchise as a whole.

"Those two guys have formulated a really good plan for the offense line,” Rosengarten said. “Specifically for my game, and what my strong suits are, I think it fits me to a tee. From that first day, what (Ledford) emphasized was obviously ‘speed off the ball’, and we're just running, that's going to be one thing, we're going to play hard, play fast. It all falls (into), I think, my strong suits of quality as a player.”

Under former offensive coordinator and current Cleveland Browns head coach, Todd Monken, the Ravens put an emphasis on attacking and getting skill players out in space and on the move. By all accounts, that trend won't just continue under Doyle and Ledford but it will extend to offensive linemen even more with the tackles getting out on pulls and screens to create convoys on screens and and running plays.

"I think from my first two years, I think I had a lot of strong qualities that fit in that offense, but I feel like it's going to shine even more in this one,” Rosengarten said.

Ledford is known for his specialization and expertise in coaching and establishing a dominant wide-zone-heavy blocking scheme that produced multiple top-10 rushing attacks during his five-year stint with the Atlanta Falcons before landing in Baltimore. Coming out of college at the University of Washington, Rosengarten was known for athleticism, finesse and tenacity, all of which make him a great fit in Ledford's new system.

“I think that mentality, the toughness he established that from day one,” Rosengarten said. “We're going to be the first group that's going to finish down the field (and) always be around the ball carrier. It's one thing he always says. I think that's a good thing for offensive linemen in general. Whenever there's a play that's finished, whether it's pass or run, if you're there to pick up your guy, you're always going to be finishing.”

The 'speed off the ball' mantra that the Ravens offensive line plans to live by under Ledford already has the players fired up for the future holds and chomping at the bit to put pads on.

"I think Coach Led has had a history of guys playing with that kind of mentality, and it's shown in the success that his players have had,” Rosengarten said.

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