Ravens Week 1 Rookie Report: Nate Wiggins sees limited time and Roger Rosengarten has rough first snap

The Baltimore Ravens opened up the 2024 regular season on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night. They got solid contributions from a handful of members from their 2024 rookie class.

On a day when three of the team’s nine draft selections suited up, none of them had a profound positive impact in any of the three phases of the game in the team’s 27-20 loss to the two-time defending champions.

The four drafted rookies on the 53-man roster who did not participate were third-round outside linebacker Adisa Isaac, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury since making his preseason debut, fourth-round wide receiver Devontez Walker, fourth-round cornerback T.J. Tampa and sixth-round center Nick Samac. Fifth-round running back Rasheen Ali was placed on injured reserve earlier in the day and undrafted rookie safety Beau Brade was also among the players on the inactive list.

Here is how the first-year players who suited up and took the field fared in their first taste of regular season NFL action.

CB Nate Wiggins

In what was one of the most surprising takeaways from this game, the first-round corner who dazzled and finished as Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded first-round rookie in the preseason played a larger percentage of the Ravens’ total special teams snaps (42%) than defense (31%). The coaches opted to trot out third-year pro Jalyn Armour-Davis with the starting defense at outside corner on the opening drive over Wiggins when the Chiefs went to 11 personnel and three-time Pro Bowler Marlon Humphrey moved inside to the slot with Brandon Stephens at the other outside spot.

Despite playing just 17 defensive snaps, Wiggins managed to make a pair of tackles including a solo takedown. According to PFF, he only gave up one reception for one yard and earned an overall PFF grade of 76 which was the third-highest among Ravens defenders and the fourth-highest on the entire team. He wasn’t on the field when Chiefs speedy rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy sprinted into the end zone for a touchdown on the defense’s first drive, where his 4.28 speed might have made a difference. Hopefully, he plays a lot more earlier and often on defense moving forward.

OT R

Ravens top @PFF grades vs. Chiefs:

Offense:
TE Isaiah Likely (91.8)
C Tyler Linderbaum (73.8)
RB Derrick Henry (67.9)
LT Ronnie Stanley (67.5)
RB Justice Hill (66.6)

Defense:
S Ar’Darius Washington (86.5)
OLB Odafe Oweh (85.4)
CB Nate Wiggins (76.0)
CB Jalyn Armour-Davis (68.9) pic.twitter.com/0z4vYV2bMD

— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) September 6, 2024

oger Rosengarten

The second-round offensive tackle didn’t get to start the game but rotated with veteran Patrick Mekari with his first snap at right tackle coming on the team’s third offensive drive of the game. Rosengarten couldn’t have had a rougher first regular season snap than the one he had in which he got beat swiftly by Chiefs five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Chris Jones, who lined up on the edge for that play.

Not only did it result in a sack but quarterback Lamar Jackson lost possession of the ball while being taken down and the loose ball was recovered by Kansas City, putting the Ravens’ defense back on the field at their own 14-yard line. Rosengarten bounced back and played better on the other 19 offensive snaps he received in this game and he also saw the field for five more on special teams.

DB Sanoussi Kane

As was to be expected, the seventh-round safety only saw the field on special teams exclusively with his 20 snaps in that phase of the game tying for the second-most on the team. Kane wasn’t in on either of the two Chiefs’ two kick returns and didn’t get a chance to make a tackle on either of Jordan Stout’s punts because they were both downed inside the 20-yard line thanks to excellent placement and hang time.