Ravens Guard Impressing After Injury

Andrew Vorhees missed his entire rookie season with injury, but is now rewarding the Baltimore Ravens' faith in him.

Jon Alfano | Jul 31, 2024

Mar 5, 2023; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Southern California offensive lineman Andrew Vorhees (OL47) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore Ravens guard Andrew Vorhees may have been drafted last year, but this year marks his first true NFL experience.

Vorhees was widely expected to be an early- or mid-round pick coming out of USC, but unfortunately, he suffered a torn ACL at the NFL Scouting Combine just weeks before the draft. The Ravens still saw his potential, though, and decided to trade back into draft to select him at No. 229 overall.

Now, Vorhees is rewarding that faith with an impressive offseason as he pushes for the starting left guard job.

"I think Andrew is great," left tackle Ronnie Stanley told reporters Monday. "Ever since he got here, he's been a student of the game and has just been trying to learn. Even the times he couldn't really be on the field for practice, he's been in all the meetings, he's been here throughout all the offseason, and I come out.

"I'm very impressed with how fast he's learning things, how fast he's getting up to the speed of the game [and] how good of a shape he's in. Everything is moving really fast for him., but he's also adjusting really fast, and he's getting better and better every day."

As Vorhees essentially redshirted his rookie season, he was hard at work rehabbing his knee injury. It's been a long and grueling journey, but he feels he's in the best spot to succeed.

"I made the most of my last year given the situation I was in, and I couldn't be more thankful for the commitment that I put in and our coaching staff and strength staff and
training staff all put in and poured into me," Vorhees said.

"The knee feels like a million bucks. It feels better than before. I just trusted the process for the last 17, 18 months, however long it's been, and I feel like I kind of leveraged myself into a good position because of that trust."

The Ravens are breaking in three new starters up front at left guard, right guard and right tackle. Out of all those competitions, Vorhees seems to have to the tightest grip on his position at left guard. If the first-team All-American can bounce back from his devastating injury, the Ravens should be in good hands up front.

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Published Jul 31, 2024

JON ALFANO