Ben Powers (born October 29, 1996) 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 ...

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(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 ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

High school

Powers attended high school in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School, sometimes called Kapaun, is a private, four year, co-educational, secondary school operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wichita. It is located in the east side of Wichita, Kansas. The school colors ar ...

. He got varsity letters in football and wrestling and finished second in the state wrestling finals. As a junior in high school, Powers, already 6 ft 4ins tall and weighed 280 pounds, played both on the offensive line and defensive line. After his senior football season, Powers received no scholarship from any major college or university.

College career

After one year at

Butler Community College Butler Community College (BCC) is a public community college in El Dorado, Kansas. Campus There are a number of branch campuses throughout the area, in Andover, Council Grove, Marion, McConnell, Rose Hill, and a number of distance-learning ...

, Powers enrolled at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

. Following the 2018 season, Powers was named a consensus first-team All-American.

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

The

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

selected Powers with the 123rd overall pick in the fourth round of the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

. After making the active roster, he was placed on the inactive list for the first 6 weeks of his rookie season before making his debut in Week 17, playing the majority of snaps at right guard in the Ravens' win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. After beginning the 2020 season as a backup, he was named the starting right guard midseason due to injuries. He was the primary left guard in 2021, and was the full-time starter in 2022.

Denver Broncos

On March 16, 2023, Powers signed a four-year, $51.5 million contract with the

References

1996 births Living people Players of American football from Wichita, Kansas American football offensive guards Butler Grizzlies football players Oklahoma Sooners football players Baltimore Ravens players All-American college football players Denver Broncos players {{Offensive-lineman-1990s-stub