The 5 O’Clock Club: Let’s watch film – Every Armani Rogers target of 2022

It’s 5 o’clock somewhere…

The 5 o’clock club is published from time to time during the season, and aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.

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Week 1 vs Jaguars

1st & 10 in the first quarter

Rogers gains 23 yards on a simple catch and run. (If you want to see the end-zone view of the play, wait 2 or 3 seconds. The film isn’t frozen, I just forgot to cut out the part where the booth analyst is explaining what’s on the screen).

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Week 7 vs Green Bay

3rd quarter, 2nd & 7

Rogers makes the reception just 2 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Walker gets a shot at the tackle 3 yards short of the sticks, but Rogers breaks the tackle and stumbles forward for a gain of 9 yards and a first down. Terry McLaurin scored on a 37-yard touchdown pass on the next play.

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Week 7 vs Green Bay

3rd quarter, 3rd & 2

The pass protection breaks down and Taylor Heinicke has to move a lot in the pocket to stay alive. Rogers finds a hole in the coverage downfield, turns and presents himself as a huge target. Heinicke hits him in the chest 9 yards downfield. Rogers immediately turns and runs, gaining 17 yards and keeping the scoring drive alive (it ended with a field goal to make the score 20-14).

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Week 7 vs Green Bay

4th quarter, 1st & 10

As Washington is trying to run out the clock, Rogers secures the catch and is immediately tackled for a 2-yard gain. The drive ended with a punt at 00:23, and the defense prevented the Packers from scoring in the final seconds, securing the win.

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Week 8 at Indianapolis

3rd quarter, 2nd & 10

This play is a mess, but it’s hard to know if Rogers is at fault. He holds his block before releasing on a shallow route across the field, but he and Antonio Gibson collide as the RB comes though the line and out of the backfield. As protection breaks down, Heinicke rolls right and tries to complete the pass to Rogers, but puts the ball a bit too far in front of him. The defender had Rogers covered like a blanket in any event.

This is the only time in 2022 that a pass targeted for Rogers did not end up as a completion

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Week 8 at Indianapolis

4th quarter, 1st & 10

Trailing 16-7 late in the 4th quarter, Washington needed to score twice. On 1st & 10 from the Colts 30 yard line, Rogers makes a one-hand grab and turns upfield for a 13 yard gain and gets out of bounds to stop the clock. Washington ends the drive with a field goal and then scores a touchdown on their final offensive drive to win the game 17-16.

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In 2022, Armani Rogers was targeted 6 times. Five of those passes were completed for 64 yards (12.8 average) and 4 first downs.

Washington was 3-0 in games in which Rogers was targeted.

Like Logan Thomas, 25-year-old Armani Rogers is a converted college quarterback (UNLV). He was undrafted last year, and played well in training camp and the preseason. He was one of 5 tight ends on the initial 53-man roster.

What I see in these 6 plays is a guy with good hands, an understanding for how to get open, an ability to get north and south in a hurry, awareness of where the first down marker is, and an ability to break tackles.

As you can see from his film clips above, Rogers was having a pretty good rookie season, but missed several games due to injury — he was on IR from Week 11 to Week 17. I’m thinking that Eric Bieniemy might be excited when he sees these plays by the young 2nd-year tight end.