The Baltimore Ravens made 11 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. One was Alabama A&M left tackle Carson Vinson, who was selected in the fifth round with the No. 141 overall pick.
Vinson made 48 starts for the Bulldogs from 2021-2024. The 6-foot-7, 314-pound tackle posted the third-best 3-cone drill and 15th-best 40-yard dash among offensive linemen at the NFL Scouting Combine. Now, Vinson is excited to start his NFL career in Baltimore.
“It’s been a whirlwind, but it’s been just a blessed opportunity. I’ve been so excited. I’m itching to get to Baltimore,” Vinson said on Glenn Clark Radio April 28.
Vinson was excited to go to Baltimore because the Ravens have historically been a successful franchise, having made it to the playoffs in six out of the last seven seasons.
“The Baltimore Ravens are a Class A organization,” Vinson said. “… As a person and as a player, the Baltimore culture is who I am and who I embody. Hard-working, in the dirt, dirty nose, and then also being a great human being outside of football. Everything that the Baltimore Ravens represent is who I’ve been all my life, and it really felt like a match made in heaven. Even when I went on my visit predraft, I went up there and it felt like home. I told my dad, I said, ‘Man, I can envision myself being here. It’s an amazing environment.'”
Vinson credits Alabama A&M (Huntsville, Ala.) for why he was able to accomplish his dream of making it to the NFL. Vinson believes he wouldn’t have developed into the same player had he gone to a different school.
“It’s almost like a little bit of a delusion to go to a small school where nobody knows you, nobody even knows the school,” Vinson said of being drafted out of A&M. “Half the people still say my school’s name wrong or I tell them I go to A&M, they think it’s a bigger school. It’s a little bit of delusion that you have to have, but it’s really a belief in yourself that you can get to wherever you want to go by how much work you put in.”
Vinson could have entered the transfer portal to pursue other opportunities but ultimately decided to stay with the Bulldogs.
“I was blessed enough to have my father. He has a good job and I didn’t need money right away, but I had a lot of offers to go into the portal,” Vinson said. “I really wanted to stay, too, because those schools didn’t want me out of high school and that hurts. … I didn’t want to switch up on A&M because A&M never switched up on me, so it was really that loyalty to them.”
Vinson was the only player from an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) to participate in the 2025 Senior Bowl, something that he’s proud to have accomplished.
“I’ve been blessed to be put on this pedestal,” Vinson said of representing HBCUs. “So many people are almost living through me. It’s really amazing.”
For more from Vinson, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Alabama A&M