Ben Bartch (born July 22, 1998) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

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for the

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of the

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(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Saint John's (MN).

Early life and high school

Bartch grew up in

McMinnville, Oregon McMinnville is the county seat of and largest city in Yamhill County, Oregon, United States. The city is named after McMinnville, Tennessee. As of the 2019 census, the city had a population estimate of 34,743. McMinnville is at the confluence of ...

and attended Blanchet Catholic School where he played tight end. He was not recruited out of high school.

College career

Bartch began his collegiate career playing tight end. He played in one game as a freshman and was the team's third tight end as a sophomore, catching four passes for 43 yards and one touchdown. His coaches liked his blocking ability and suggested he move to the offensive line going into his junior season. In order to gain weight, Bartch consumed a protein shake daily consisting of 7 scrambled eggs, tub of cottage cheese, quick grits, peanut butter, bananas and gatorade and went up from 250 pounds to 275 by summer training camp before eventually reaching 305 pounds. Bartch became the Johnnies starting left tackle and was named second-team All-

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) is a college athletic conference which competes in NCAA Division III. All 13 of the member schools are located in Minnesota and are private institutions, with only two being non-sectarian. ...

(MIAC) and to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team at the end of the season. As a senior, Bartch was named first-team All-MIAC and a consensus first-team All-American by D3Football.com. Considered a prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft, Bartch was invited to participate in the 2020 Senior Bowl. Bartch also competed on Saint John's track and field team in shot put and discus throw events.

Professional career

Bartch was selected in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the

. He became the first Saint John's player to be drafted since 1974 and the first player to be drafted from any Division III program in five years. Bartch made his NFL debut on September 13, 2020 in the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts, playing five snaps on special teams. He was placed on the reserve/

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list by the Jaguars on December 15, 2020, and activated on January 5, 2021. Bartch entered the 2022 season as the Jaguars starting left guard. He suffered a dislocated knee in Week 5 and was placed on injured reserve on October 11, 2022.

References

External links

Saint John's Johnnies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartch, Ben 1998 births American football offensive tackles Jacksonville Jaguars players Living people Players of American football from Oregon Saint John's Johnnies football players Sportspeople from McMinnville, Oregon