Ravens Draft Pick Has Unique Perspective at LB

A key part of becoming a successful linebacker, or any defender really, is being able to read what the opposing offense wants to do.

While rare, those who've played on both sides of the ball could have a distinct edge in learning offenses. Baltimore Ravens linebacker Teddye Buchanan believes he does.

Buchanan, whom the Ravens selected in the fourth-round of the 2025 NFL Draft, previously played quarterback in high school, and played the position well. As a senior at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco, he completed 82 percent of his passes for 1,785 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He also ran for 557 yards and nine touchdowns, which, together with his prowess on defense, helped him earn become the West Catholic Athletic League's player of the year.

While Buchanan played exclusively linebacker in college, first at UC Davis and then at Cal, being able to put himself in the quarterback's shoes is still immensely valuable.

"It helped in a bunch of ways, just understanding, first of all, the mentality of the quarterback [and] what things affect them," Buchanan told reporters Saturday. "The processing speed of playing quarterback definitely translates right over to defense, and then just understanding offense and how they're trying to attack RPOs and different things like that, especially in college, so it definitely was helpful."

In his lone season at Cal, Buchanan dominated with 114 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, five sacks, four passes defended and two forced fumbles. He earned first-team All-ACC honors on the season.

Buchanan could compete with third-year pro Trenton Simpson for a starting job, but for now, his focus is on helping the Ravens however he can, no matter what phase of the game it comes in.

"For me really, I'm just going to add whatever coach needs me to add," Buchanan said. "First of all, it's just going to be effort and toughness and just consistency. I'm not really looking to do anything outside of my realm, just doing whatever coach needs from me and just whatever the team needs."