Ravens Week 12 Rookie Report: Wiggins passes another test; Rosengarten makes strides in pass pro

The first-round cornerback was targeted a lot and rose to the occasion more often than not while the second-round tackle continues to improve in areas he has struggled.

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 30-23 to close out Week 12 on Monday Night Football and received significant contributions from several members of their 2024 rookie class.

Five of the team’s nine draft picks dressed for the game and their first two selections played major roles in Baltimore’s digging themselves out of an early 10-0 deficit to win comfortably in the end. The Ravens have won three of their last four games and are only half a game behind the Pittsburgh Steelers for first place in the AFC North.

Fifth-round running back Rasheen Ali, sixth-round center Nick Samac and seventh-round safety Sanoussi Kane were all inactive for Monday’s game. It marked the first game that Kane missed this season due to an ankle injury he suffered the week prior. Undrafted rookie safety Beau Brade was active for the sixth time in the last seven games for special teams duties.

Here is how the first-year players fared in their latest taste of regular season NFL action.

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CB Nate Wiggins

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For the third week in a row, Wiggins played 50-plus defensive snaps and over 60% of the team’s total and saw a lot of action. The first-rounder was targeted 10 times—twice as much as the next closest Ravens defensive back—and only allowed half of them to get completed for 66 yards with only one yard coming after the catch. He recorded a career-high six total tackles all of which were solos which were the second-most on the team. While he gave up a few catches in tight coverage including back-to-back completions of 11 and 17 yards that set the Chargers up for a 52-yard field goal before halftime, he also prevented several completions with a pair of pass breakups and a big hit on third down to prevent a receiver from picking up a first down.

The only flag on Wiggins’ ledger in this game was a ticky-tack unnecessary roughness penalty on special teams for blocking a gunner out of bounds on a punt although it looked like the player ran out on their own and didn’t fight to get back in the field play. He also missed out on a prime opportunity to record his first career sack on a corner blitz where he came screaming into the backfield unblocked but took a bad angle and allowed Justin Herbert to step up in the pocket and deliver a 19-yard dart for a first-down on conversion to wide receiver Ladd McConkey.

OT Roger Rosengarten

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After struggling at times with consistency in pass protection for a stretch after becoming a full-time starter in Week 4, the second-rounder continued to show improvement in that aspect of his game on Monday night. Despite the Chargers having a pair of veteran Pro Bowl edge rushers in Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa, the rookie was one of three Ravens’ offensive linemen who didn’t give up a single pressure. He was the fifth-highest-graded player on the team with an overall of 72.1 and had a pass-blocking grade of 73.8 which marked his third straight week of logging a grade of 73 or higher.

As run-blocker, Rosengarten helped pave the way for the Ravens’ fourth game of racking up 200-plus yards on the ground and the first since Week 7. While he cost star veteran running back Derrick Henry his consecutive games with a touchdown to start the season streak with an illegal formation penalty he got called for, he also made several key blocks to him pick up first downs and rip off chunk gains.

OLB Adisa Isaac

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Isaac was active in back-to-back games for the first time this season and played the bulk of his snaps on special teams for change after primarily playing on defense in his two appearances. His 14 defensive snaps matched his career-high from his regular season debut in Week 4 while his 18 snaps on special teams marked a new career-high and tied for the fourth-most on the team.

WR Devontez Walker

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Walker was active for the fifth time in the last six weeks and played the vast majority of his snaps on special teams with 12. The fourth-round wideout saw his first action on offense since Week 9 on the final two plays of the game when the Ravens kneeled out the rest of the clock in victory formation after a failed onside kick attempt by the Chargers.

DB Beau Brade

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For the sixth time in the last seven weeks, the undrafted rookie safety out of Maryland was active on game day for special teams duties. He played 18 snaps in that phase of the game, which tied for his second-most of the season and was the third-most on the team.