Andrew Vorhees Selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2023 NFL Draft
USC offensive lineman Andrew Vorhees was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He was overall pick No. 229.
Vorhees is the fourth offensive lineman in five years drafted to the NFL out of USC. The Trojans didn’t have one selected last year. But Chuma Edoga went to the Jets as a third-round selection in 2019. Then USC went back-to-back in the first round with Austin Jackson to the Dolphins in 2020 and Alijah Vera-Tucker to the Jets in 2021.
Vorhees becomes the No. 523 overall draft pick for the USC Trojans. USC is second all-time when it comes to draft picks, but is just behind Notre Dame for the top spot.
Some injury history absolutely led to a major drop in the draft for Vorhees. He missed nearly the entire 2019 season due to an ankle injury. And an injury cost him three games in 2022. He then suffered an ACL tear while performing position drills at the NFL Combine.
Vorhees did what he could to alleviate any worries about the injury. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Vorhees sent a letter on Day 2 of the draft to every NFL team. It was from his doctor, Neal ElAttrache, with the hope of calming concerns about his ability to play moving forward.
The letter confirmed the injury Vorhees suffered was “to his right knee requiring arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with central third bone patellar tendon bone autograft and repair of the posterior root of the lateral meniscal.”
Cutting through the medical jargon, ElAttrache concluded, “Based on his surgical result and early recovery I anticipate return to play without restrictions.”
Despite the injury, Vorhees still authored one of the most impressive performances at the combine. The morning after the injury, he came out to perform the bench press while wearing a full brace on his injured leg. Vorhees put up 38 reps on the bench press despite the injury. That number was four more than any other player at the combine.
Vorhees missed some time for the Trojans this season. But he was one of the best interior offensive linemen in the country. He earned All-America honors and was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team Offense.
Vorhees in College
Vorhees did it all for the Trojans during his USC career. And he overcame plenty to do so.
An early enrollee as a four-star signee in the 2017 recruiting class, Vorhees made a quick impression. He played in four early season games and then started the final nine games of the season at right guard.
Vorhees underwent knee surgery following 2018 spring practice, but still started 11 times at right guard during that 2018 season. An ankle injury early in the 2019 season cost him all but two games there. He returned for the 2020 season and flipped over to left guard. That’s where he started the first eight games of the 2021 season before finishing the final four at left tackle. Vorhees was a dominant left guard for USC in 2022, despite missing three games due to injury.
