OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Every NFL draft pick’s journey to getting onto a roster, onto the practice field and into game action is different. For Andrew Vorhees it has been nothing he could have ever expected.
"At first it was just a, ‘Why?’ with a big question mark at the end. Then, slowly over time, the response changed – and it was kind of, ‘Why not?’," said the the 6-foot-6, 310-pound guard.
The first year of Vorhees’ tenure with the Ravens was spent off the field. Selected by Baltimore in the seventh round of the 2023 draft, the offensive lineman out of Southern California entered the pros just about two months after suffering a torn ACL at the NFL scouting combine. Following a year of grueling rehab he is fully healthy.
"[This is] the first time I get to be a football player in quite some time," he said Thursday after the Ravens' organized team activity. "The last time I stepped on the field was back in the fall of 2022."
Now in the spring of 2024 he is a pro and participating.
"At first it was a little fast. But just over time, over these OTA days and football school days, it definitely has slowed down a ton."
Projected as a higher draft pick before his injury, Vorhees is eager to show why he should have been one. He is expected to be in the mix for a starting guard spot.
"I just think to go out to practice every day and just try to be the best football player that I can become and we’ll let everything else take care of itself."
He is well on his way with more confidence and three weeks of OTA’s in the books with his teammates.
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