Baltimore Ravens rookie Teddye Buchanan has earned a major award despite a season-ending ACL injury.
As the Super Bowl gets closer and closer, end-of-year awards for the NFL start to come in. And one surprising member of the Baltimore Ravens' roster has taken home one of these honors.
Despite suffering a season-ending injury, rookie linebacker Teddye Buchanan was named to the Professional Football Writers of America's (PFWA) All-Rookie Team for 2025.
Buchanan was selected by the Ravens with the 129th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He was named a starter in Baltimore's second game and quickly became one of their best defensive weapons.
In 14 games (13 of which he started), Buchanan recorded 93 combined tackles (49 solo tackles), five tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, one pass defended, one forced fumble, and 0.5 sacks.
Unfortunately, Buchanan's excellent rookie season came to an abrupt end when he suffered an ACL tear against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 14.
Despite this setback, Buchanan had the third-most combined tackles on the Ravens, finishing behind linebacker Roquan Smith (130) and safety Kyle Hamilton (105).
Buchanan's best performance came in a loss against the Houston Texans, where he recorded 15 combined tackles (8 solo) and one tackle for loss. He recorded eight or more combined tackles in five of his 14 games.
Buchanan began his football career with UC Davis from 2020 to 2023. Across 36 games, he recorded 208 tackles, eight interceptions, and four sacks.
In 2024, Buchanan transferred to the University of California, Berkley. While at Cal, he led the Atlantic Coast Conference in assists on tackles with 69.
Across 13 games, Buchanan recorded 114 combined tackles (45 solo), 12 tackles for loss, five sacks, four passes defended, and two forced fumbles. He was named first-team All-ACC for his excellent play.
The Ravens defense finished the 2025 NFL season with 354.5 average yards allowed, ranking them at 24th in the league. This was a massive drop off from the 2024 NFL season when Baltimore was ranked tenth with 324.2 average yards allowed and the best rushing defense in the league, only allowing 80.1 yards per game.
Needless to say, Buchanan will be an important building block for Baltimore in the future if the organization wants to return to its former defensive glory. Hopefully he will be able to repeat this quality of play after he recovers from injury.