Baltimore Beatdown
Vote for the Baltimore Ravens’ Rookie of the Year for the 2024 season.
The 2024-2025 NFL season is complete, but before the chapter is closed, we want a final look at the joys that came from the Baltimore Ravens’ season.
So, let’s celebrate the successes by handing out our second-annual Baltimore Beatdown Awards. Today, we continue with Rookie of the Year.
Beatdown contributors will offer up our nominees, but the winner is ultimately decided by you, the reader, with a poll at each article’s end.
Kyle Phoenix: OT Roger Rosengarten
For all the impressive potential and splash plays made by first-round cornerback Nate Wiggins, I’m locked in with Rosengarten. He played 1,066 snaps this season, tied for No. 24 among all tackles in the NFL this season with fellow rookie tackle Joe Alt. His growth, improvement and overall consistency led to the Ravens becoming one of the best offenses in not only recent NFL history, but since its inception.
In his first season, Rosengarten allowed four sacks, one quarterback hit. Not one of those came from divisional games where he faced a litany of the NFL’s best pass rushers. For him to make such an impact with clear potential on the horizon, Rosengarten is a home-run hit from GM Eric DeCosta, and he’s my surefire rookie of the year.
Nikhil Mehta: CB Nate Wiggins
Is a first-rounder a boring pick for Rookie of the Year? Maybe, but Nate Wiggins put together an excellent 2024, especially for a 21-year-old learning a complex defense. The primary draft-day concern surrounding Wiggins was size, but he added almost 10 pounds over the summer in Baltimore and put together a strong training camp. An injury to Arthur Maulet forced Marlon Humphrey to play in the slot, giving Wiggins a chance to start on the outside right away. He dealt with the same early-season woes as the rest of the defense, but picked up his game by Week 7 and finished the year as one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. According to Pro Football Focus, Wiggins’ 50% catch rate allowed and 64.6 passer rating when targeted ranked among the top four starting CBs in the regular season. He also didn’t give up a single touchdown in that period and finished second among all DBs in coverage EPA (-28.4).
The Ravens’ excitement in drafting Wiggins was about his long-term ceiling as a young, talented cornerback with unteachable length and speed. But his floor as a rookie was impressive this year, with a snap share just under 70% and coverage skills that encouraged opposing quarterbacks to target other parts of the field. Wiggins can only get better from here, making it clear that Baltimore has found their next young lockdown CB.
Joshua Reed: RT Roger Rosengarten
After opening the regular season taking fewer snaps in a two-man rotation, the second-rounder got a chance to become a full-time starter once versatile veteran Patrick Mekari moved over to left...
