(Photo courtesy of CollegePressBox.com)
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Even after holding their final press conference to recap the 2023 NFL draft, general manager Eric DeCosta and the Ravens weren’t quite done.
Trading a 2024 sixth-round pick to Cleveland, Baltimore moved into the seventh round to select injured USC guard Andrew Vorhees with the 229th overall pick, an intriguing selection that could pay dividends in the future. Vorhees was projected by many to be a late Day 2 or early Day 3 pick before suffering a torn ACL at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, which caused his stock to fall.
“Andrew is a player who we’ve admired, and the opportunity to trade back in to get him was too appealing,” DeCosta said in a statement released by the team. “We are getting a tough and physical competitor who is polished and experienced. We have every expectation that he will be playing winning football for us in 2024, and this is a move that really solidified our line for the coming years.”
The 6-foot-4, 305-pound offensive lineman started 48 games and appeared in 55 total contests for the Trojans going back to the 2017 season, and his development really took off over the last two campaigns. Vorhees was named an AP and Pro Football Focus first-team All-American last season, and he was also the 2022 Morris Trophy winner, which is awarded to the most outstanding offensive and defensive lineman in the Pac-12 Conference and voted on by the players.
According to PFF, Vorhees played nearly 3,500 snaps in his college career and showed plenty of versatility by lining up at left tackle (402), left guard (1,634), right guard (1,392), and right tackle (61).
While the Ravens must find the replacement for Ben Powers at left guard this summer, 33-year-old right guard Kevin Zeitler is entering the final year of his contract, meaning the addition of a guard prospect with such upside was a shrewd use of a late-round draft pick.
Vorhees was the sixth and final member of the 2023 draft class, making it the Ravens’ smallest since a six-player class in 2009.
