Baltimore Beatdown
The first-round cornerback out-snapped a starter while the second-round tackle held his own against a former Defensive Player of the Year.
The Baltimore Ravens faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 11 and received significant contributions from several members of their 2024 rookie class.
Though only four of the team’s nine draft picks dressed for the game, their first two selections played major roles in Baltimore’s failed comeback attempt. The Ravens have now lost eight of their last nine meetings with the Steelers, including the last four straight.
Fourth-round wide receiver Devontez Walker, fifth-round running back Rasheen Ali and sixth-round center Nick Samac were all inactive for Sunday’s game. Undrafted rookie safety Beau Brade was active for the fifth time in the last six games for special teams duties.
Here is how the first-year players fared in their latest taste of regular season NFL action.
Wiggins’ role on defense continued to expand in Week 11. His 62 snaps were his second-most of the season and edged out fourth-year pro Brandon Stephens, who has started every game this season. The 30th overall pick was suffocating in coverage, only allowing four yards on three targets.
Wiggins’ only negative play was a questionable defensive holding penalty that negated a Nnamdi Madubuike sack on the final drive of the first half. Aside from that, he continues to be a tremendous asset to a Ravens secondary that is starting to round into shape changes at safety and outside cornerback. He finished with two total tackles including a solo stop and showed a better understanding of route concepts behind him in coverage.
Rosengarten quietly had another solid all-around game in his eight start at right tackle. The second-round rookie passes his toughest test to date, surrendering just one pressure all game despite constant matchups with All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt, per Pro Football Focus. Rosengarten’s 2.8% pressure rate allowed was the third-lowest among rookie linemen in Week 11 (min. 10 snaps).
While Rosengarten has come a long way as a run-blocker, he had a major gaffe on Sunday that resulted in a negative play for the offense. On a 2nd-and-3 in the third quarter, he didn’t pick up Watt who crashed the backside of the play to tackle Derrick Henry for a loss of three yards. That put the Ravens in third and long, which they’d overcome to still finish with points on the drive.
After being a healthy scratch for the past six games, Isaac was active for his second career game and his first appearance since Week 4. The third-rounder played just eight snaps – four each on defense and special teams. Even though his defensive snaps primarily came on early downs, Isaac still made an exceptional play in the passing game. He recorded his first career pass deflection by mirroring Russell Wilson in the backfield and batting down the veteran quarterback’s attempted pass.
Kane has been active...
