Ravens Rookie Prepares To Face Steelers Star DE

The Baltimore Ravens will have their hands full against a former Defensive Player of the Year.

Oct 6, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten (70) walks off the field after the victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

The Baltimore Ravens know all too well just how dangerous Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt can be. Watt, the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year, has 16 sacks in 14 career games against Baltimore, his second-most against any opponent.

As the two rivals prepare to face off again on Sunday, a new Raven will be tasked with containing Watt: rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten. Rosengarten, a second-round pick out Washington, can't wait to face the four-time All-Pro this weekend.

"I'm excited," Rosengarten said Tuesday. "He's one of the NFL greats. He's part of that Watt family lineage that's football royalty. To go against a guy like that, it's going to be an awesome, awesome matchup for me, so I'm excited."

When he heard the Ravens drafted him, Rosengarten knew he'd see some great edge rushers very frequently. Unlike others he faced so far, including Trey Hendrickson of the Cincinnati Bengals and Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns, Watt lines up over right tackle for the vast majority of his snaps. Rosengarten won't be on his own completely, but for the most part, the Ravens will trust him to hold his own.

That said, it's not about perfection, just about doing his best.

"There's going be wins and losses. That's part of it," left tackle Ronnie Stanley said. "But it's all about how you react to these situations and how you grow from them. And anytime something bad has happened, he's always grown from it."

Rosengarten's career got off to a rough start, as on his very first NFL snap, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones blew past him for a crucial strip sack on Lamar Jackson. Since then, though, he's been steadily improving, allowing just two sacks on 278 pass-blocking snaps.

"From when I first came in and got drafted, I just wanted to have that snowball effect of just getting better each and each day, because I know immediate success is rare," Rosengarten said.

"It's not like it can't happen, but success, it's a slow process. So for me, I'm just taking it day by day and just trying to keep it going, play good ball and clean up more and more things week by week."

At the start of the season, Rosengarten didn't start at right tackle, but played in a rotation with Patrick Mekari. With Mekari now at left guard, Rosengarten is now playing right tackle full-time, and appears to be the Ravens' future at the position.

"He's playing really well," Mekari said. "He's tough. He fights through injuries. He's a good player, and he's young. So he's going to keep getting better and he's going to have a good, long career."

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