Possible Cowboys target Bernhard Raimann explains his unique football journey

The Dallas Cowboys have expressed their need and desire to draft an offensive lineman early in the draft. While Kenyon Green and Zion Johnson have often been linked with the team, Central Michigan’s Bernhard Raimann is also a top prospect of interest for the Cowboys. Raimann recently did an interview with NFL Network giving fans a chance to get to know the projected first-round pick a little bit better.

For Cowboys fans who haven’t heard of him, let’s talk a bit about what makes him a great prospect first. This 6-6, 303-pound lineman is a force to be reckoned with. He’s incredibly athletic and has great control over his large frame. Despite his short time in both American football and at the OT position, he is very polished and skilled at what he does. He’s garnered interest from several NFL teams and is highly likely to be gone in the first round.

In the video below, we learn a few fun facts about Raimann outside of his stats and numbers. Here are some:

1. He was born in Austria and grew up playing football there.
2. According to Bleacher Report, he became a foreign exchange student in his junior year of high school in Michigan. He returned to Austria for his senior year, served in the military, then returned to football in 2018 to play football for Central Michigan.
3. His initial football dream was to play high school football in America because he loved the idea of Friday Night Lights.
4. He is 25 years old.
5. He entered Central Michigan as a tight end before transitioning to an offensive tackle.

Cowboys prospect Bernhard Raimann tells the story of how he learned to play offensive tackle in quarantine by watching YouTube videos

It’s incredibly impressive to know that Raimann gave up only one sack in over 600 snaps when he played tight end growing up. He also ended his collegiate career with a 94.6 PFF grade, making him the fourth-highest graded OT in all of college football.

It’s even more impressive to know that he made the transition from tight end to tackle during the COVID-19 quarantine. After being asked to change positions, Raimann said the team only had three practices before things got shut down due to the pandemic in 2020. Over the summer of 2020, there were no organized practices and he was unable to have any in-person interactions with his coaches.

So how did he learn how to play the position? By watching YouTube videos. He researched and watched hours of videos of pro offensive tackles during lockdown to learn their techniques. He would then go outside and record himself practicing and send the videos to his coach at Central Michigan for feedback.

It’s an incredible feat to go from watching videos about a position to a first-round projected pick in the NFL Draft. Clearly, it worked well. Raimann also spoke about the opportunity to work with Cincinnati Bengals OL coach Paul Alexander in the summer of 2021. He said that work was career-changing. This highly-touted prospect will make his way to the NFL through a remarkably unique path.