Heavy

Northwestern guard and Baltimore Ravens draft pick Evan Beernsten.

Getting picked in the 7th round of the NFL draft is nice in the way that, hey, you get to tell everyone you got picked in the NFL draft for the rest of your life.

It does very little in the way of guaranteeing you actually play in the NFL, as Baltimore Ravens guard and 2026 7th round pick (No. 253 overall) Evan Beernsten is quickly finding out.

Ebony Bird’s Connor Burke thinks Beernsten will get 1 shot to make the roster and called this a “do or die summer” for the 6-foot-3, 301-pound Northwestern product.

“For seventh-round guard Evan Beerntsen, the clock is already ticking,” Burke wrote. ” … after starting last year, Andrew Vorhees appears ready to take a depth spot, and that experience should win him positioning on the roster fairly easily. Opposite of him, the team has Emery Jones Jr. suiting up for a second season, and as a 2025 third-round selection who missed a ton of time last year with an injury, coaches will be eager to see what he can do in a fully healthy offseason. Simply put, Beerntsen doesn’t have room for error. His best hope might be showcasing his center versatility, as the Ravens continue to search for an answer to their overwhelming gap at that spot.”

The Ravens actually started and ended their draft by picking guards — they used their 1st round pick (No. 13 overall) on Penn State’s Vega Ioane and ended their draft by taking Beernsten.

Transfer From FCS to Power 4 Set Up NFL Dreams

Beernsten only had 1 season of big-time college football on his resume and it was enough to get him drafted. After playing 6 seasons and winning 2 FCS national championships at South Dakota State, Beernsten was an All-Big Ten selection in his 1 season playing for Northwestern.

NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein projected Beernsten as a 5th or 6th round pick

“Beerntsen has consistent run blocking tape but a lack of length that could get spell trouble in the NFL,” Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “He has 51 career starts under his belt, but he’ll be an older rookie after seven college seasons. He makes smart use of his angles and is stout at the point of attack, consistently straining to neutralize big men in front of him. He can be outreached in protection or have his punch wiped away, though. There are inconsistencies with patching up his edges against twists. Beerntsen is tough, but he might need a move to center to boost his roster potential.”

It seems like 1 piece of advice keeps popping up — move to center — and Beernsten might be smart to heed the call.

Ravens Lost 3-Time Pro Bowl Center to Free Agency

The Ravens need a center because 3-time Pro Bowler and former 1st round pick Tyler Linderbaum left in free agency for a 3-year, $81 million contract — the largest contract ever give to an interior offensive lineman.

Right now, it looks like his replacement might be former Colts backup Danny Pinter, who signed a 1-year, $2.75 million free-agent contract with the Ravens after Linderbaum’s exit.

‘Until they add someone, it looks like Danny Pinter’s job to lose to me,” Ravens reporter Cole Jackson said on The Baltimore Collective on June 18. “Going from losing that positional battle to Tanor Bortolini just over a year ago (with the Colts) to now, he’s the starting center for the Baltimore Ravens.”