Armani Lee Rogers (born December 4, 1997) is an American football tight end for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He was a college football quarterback at UNLV and Ohio and holds the record for longest run by a NCAA quarterback at 99 yards, doing so with the latter in 2021. Rogers signed with the Commanders as an undrafted free agent in 2022.
 Rogers in 2022 | |||||
| No. 88 – Washington Commanders | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Tight end | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born: | December 4, 1997 Buffalo, New York, U.S. | ||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||
| Weight: | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school: | Hamilton (Los Angeles, California) | ||||
| College: | |||||
| Undrafted: | 2022 | ||||
| Career history | |||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2023 | |||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||
Early years edit
The son of former NFL linebacker Sam Rogers, Armani was born on December 4, 1997, in Buffalo, New York.[1] He grew up in Los Angeles and attended Alexander Hamilton High School, Armani has four brothers and one sister where he passed for 1,433 yards and 18 touchdowns while rushing for 431 yards and six touchdowns as a senior.[2] Rogers was rated a three-star recruit and initially committed to play college football at California over offers from UCLA, Washington, and Utah.[3] He decommitted during his senior year following changes to California's coaching staff and later signed to play at UNLV after considering Fresno State.[2]
College career edit
UNLV Rebels edit
Rogers began his college career at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and redshirted as a freshman.[4] He started nine games for the Rebels during his redshirt freshman season and was named the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year after completing 99 of 189 pass attempts for 1,471 yards and six touchdowns with five interceptions and setting a school record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 780 and also rushing for eight touchdowns.[5] Rogers suffered a foot injury in the fourth game of his redshirt sophomore year and missed the next six games before returning and finishing the season with 601 passing yards and 10 touchdowns and 565 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.[6] He passed for 393 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions and rushed 204 yards and two touchdowns in four games as a redshirt junior before again suffering an injury.[7]
Ohio Bobcats edit
Rogers transferred to Ohio as a graduate student.[8][9] In 2020, he was used mostly in offensive package plays and threw for 48 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 114 yards and two touchdowns.[10] Rogers used the extra year of eligibility granted to college athletes in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to Ohio for a second season. He started two games at quarterback and was also used in offensive packages throughout the season, finishing the season with 334 passing yards and 552 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, including a 99-yard rushing touchdown against the Buffalo Bulls, which set an NCAA record for a quarterback.[11][12]
College statistics edit
| Year | School | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
| 2017 | UNLV | 10 | 99 | 189 | 52.4 | 1,471 | 6 | 5 | 122.9 | 146 | 780 | 5.3 | 8 |
| 2018 | 6 | 52 | 117 | 44.4 | 601 | 10 | 4 | 109.0 | 93 | 565 | 6.1 | 8 | |
| 2019 | 4 | 41 | 79 | 51.9 | 393 | 2 | 3 | 94.4 | 50 | 204 | 4.1 | 2 | |
| 2020 | Ohio | 3 | 5 | 9 | 55.6 | 48 | 1 | 0 | 137.0 | 19 | 114 | 6.0 | 2 |
| 2021 | 12 | 29 | 49 | 59.2 | 350 | 0 | 1 | 115.1 | 92 | 552 | 6.0 | 7 | |
| Career | 35 | 226 | 443 | 51.0 | 2,863 | 19 | 13 | 113.6 | 400 | 2215 | 5.5 | 27 | |
Professional career edit
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
226 lb (103 kg) |
33+1⁄8 in (0.84 m) |
9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) | |||||||||
| All values from Pro Day[13] | ||||||||||||
Rogers transitioned to tight end prior to playing in the 2022 East–West Shrine Bowl.[14][15] He signed with the Washington Commanders as an undrafted free agent on May 2, 2022.[16] On November 19, the Commanders placed Rogers on injured reserve.[17] On January 7, 2023, he was activated from injured reserve.[18]
On May 24, 2023, Rogers tore his Achilles tendon during a non-contact practice session.[19] He was placed on injured reserve on July 25, 2023.[20]
References edit
- ^ Brugler, Dane. "The Beast: 2022 NFL Draft Guide" (PDF). The Athletic. p. 93. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ a b Dewey, Todd (January 27, 2016). "Three-star QB recruit to decide today between UNLV, Fresno State". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
- ^ Sondheimer, Eric (February 23, 2015). "Football: Hamilton QB Armani Rogers commits to Cal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ Grimala, Mike (September 2, 2017). "All eyes on Armani: How 'The Franchise' became UNLV football's best hope". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
- ^ Anderson, Mark (November 29, 2017). "UNLV's Armani Rogers, Lexington Thomas honored by MW". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
- ^ Lassan, Steven (May 9, 2019). "2019 Mountain West Quarterback Rankings". Athlon Sports. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ Hill, Adam (July 6, 2020). "Armani Rogers leaves UNLV, enters NCAA transfer portal". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ Grimala, Mike (July 6, 2020). "Former starting QB Armani Rogers transferring from UNLV". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
- ^ Gordon, Sam (July 14, 2020). "UNLV QB Armani Rogers transfers to Ohio University". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
- ^ Gleckler, Jack (May 27, 2021). "FOOTBALL: OHIO'S QUARTERBACK QUESTION". The Post. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
- ^ Pearson, Andrew (January 27, 2022). "4 former Mid-American Conference players to participate in 2022 East-West Shrine Bowl". HustleBelt.com. SB Nation. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ "Buffalo wins 27-26 on last play, Ohio has record 99-yard TD". ESPN.com. ESPN. Associated Press. October 16, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ "2022 NFL Draft Scout Armani Rogers College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
- ^ Baumgardner, Nick (April 13, 2022). "2022 NFL Draft: Mid-round names to know from Group of 5 leagues (and beyond)". The Athletic. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
- ^ Yamashita, Andy (February 2, 2022). "Former UNLV QB returns to LV for Shrine Game". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
- ^ "Rogers Signed by Washington Commanders as Undrafted Free Agent". Ohio University. April 30, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
- ^ Selby, Zach (November 19, 2022). "Commanders place J.D. McKissic, Armani Rogers to IR". Commanders.com. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
- ^ Selby, Zach (January 7, 2023). "Commanders place Jamin Davis on IR, activate Armani Rogers and downgrade Kam Curl to OUT". Commanders.com. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
- ^ Alper, Josh (May 24, 2023). "MRI confirms torn Achilles for Armani Rogers". NBC Sports. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
- ^ Selby, Zach (July 25, 2023). "Commanders sign K Michael Badgley, WR Byron Pringle". Commanders.com. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
External links edit
