Early in his coaching career, Greg Roman was an assistant offensive line coach for the Ravens when Hall of Fame tackle Jonathan Ogden was wrapping up his Hall of Fame career. Now Roman is coaching a player he thinks can have a similar impact on the NFL.
Roman gave Chargers rookie right tackle Joe Alt some very high praise today, comparing him to Ogden in his talent level, though obviously not in what he has accomplished two games into his career.
“The potential is limitless,” Roman said of Alt. “I was with Jonathan Ogden many years ago, and he has a chance to touch that stratosphere. But that’s a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of knowledge, a lot of experience away. Right now he is battling every day to get everything down, learn — empirical data is the best data and his ability to learn from experience has been great so far. His ability to file things away and move on to the next thing is very big.”
Roman said Alt is being thrown directly into the fire in his NFL career, having lined up against Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby in his first NFL game and now preparing to see Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt on Sunday.
“Crosby Week One, now you’ve got T.J. Watt, Merry Christmas,” Roman said.
If Alt develops into a player who can consistently block those elite pass rushers, he’ll prove to be the greatest gift Justin Herbert ever received.