The Baltimore Ravens were back on the road for Week 3 of the regular season to take on the Dallas Cowboys and received significant contributions from at least one member of their 2024 rookie class while the rest either didn't suit up or hardly played in this game.
On a day when just three of the team's nine draft selections dressed, only one of them had a profound impact in any of the three phases of the game in the team's 28-25 win as they avoided another late fourth-quarter collapse in which they held a two-score lead.
The four drafted rookies on the 53-man roster who did not participate were third-round outside linebacker Adisa Isaac, who was a full participant in practice leading up to the game, 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 last week 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 latest taste of regular season NFL action.
After missing last week's game with a concussion and neck injury due to being involved in a car accident, the first-round rookie returned to action in this must-win game for the Ravens. He played a season and career-high 38 defensive snaps which was 48% of the team's total and more than double what he saw in Week 1 when he played just 17.
Wiggins started the game at outside corner as three-time Pro Bowler Marlon Humphrey lined up in the slot as the starting nickel in three-receiver sets. He drew Cowboys star wide receiver Ceedee Lamb one-on-one early and often and was tight in coverage throughout the game. While he gave up some catches for a few chunk gains to the three-time Pro Bowler, he also made one of the biggest plays against him early in the game where he punched the ball out of his grasp for his first career forced fumble in the red zone to thwart a promising drive for Dallas.
One area where he can work on is being more disciplined when trying to avoid penalties as he was flagged three times for defensive holding, illegal contact and defensive pass interference that was, thankfully, offset by a holding penalty call on outside linebacker Odafe Oweh.
"Nate competed really hard out there," Harbaugh said. "That was a learning game for Nate, probably. He had some really good plays - he knocked that ball out down there [in the red zone when the Cowboys were] going in [to try and score] - that was a massive play for us. I'm so proud of him for that. Then other times he learned NFL football sometimes. He [was called for] one pass interference penalty where he didn't even touch the guy, but he got another one where he grabbed the guy, so you have to learn from that - and he will. Some of the leverages he'll learn from. Nate's a competitor; he's tough; he wants to be good. I love everything about who he is and where he's going as a player."
Despite coming off his most impressive showing to date albeit in a limited sample size the week before against one of the premier pass rushers in the league last week, the Ravens' second-round offensive tackle didn't take a single snap on offense the whole game. After rotating with veteran Partick Mekari at right tackle in the first two games of the season, the only action Rosengarten saw in this game was a measly three snaps on special teams in a surprising turn of events.
For the third week in a row, the seventh-round safety only saw the field on special teams exclusively with 23 snaps in that phase of the game, tying linebackers Chris Board and Malik Harrison for the most on the team. While he has still yet to record his first regular season tackle, Kane performed the duties of the personal protector for punter Jordan Stout well against the Cowboys and downed his last punt at the Dallas nine-yard line in the fourth quarter.