INDIANAPOLIS -- The Steelers have had some success taking former college tight ends who moved to offensive tackle and turning them into success stories, the most recent being Alejandro Villanueva.
The next in that line could presenting himself to the Steelers in this year's draft, as Central Michigan's Bernhard Raimann is expected to be an offensive tackle taken somewhere in the latter part of the first round.
The team could have more of a need there in coming weeks if right tackle Chuks Okorafor is not re-signed in free agency.
Raimann (pronounced Rye-man) is one of the more interesting prospects available in this draft. A native of Austria, where he began playing football in 2014 with the Vienna Vikings, a club team in his home town, Raimann fell in love with the game.
And because of his size, he would sprout to 6-foot-7, he grew out of his first position, wide receiver, eventually finding his way to Delton, Mich., as an exchange student his junior year.
That helped him catch the eye of some college recruiters, but first he had to fulfill his compulsory military service in the Austrian Army, much the way Villanueva had his career put on hold while serving in the U.S. Army.
"It was awesome," Raimann said Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine of his military service. "Finishing up high school, I started off in military service a couple days after that for six months. It was an awesome experience. Obviously, physically I wasn't in shape before that, I always tried my best to stay in shape for that.
"The whole mental aspect of waking up in the middle of the night, packing your stuff, being on time all the time, working as a team, having the discipline to clean your boots every day, have your bed check every day, is something that I took away from that the most because that discipline -- you still make your bed when your mom wants you to, but once you do it with the military, it becomes a whole different mindset of getting ready for the day, finishing your first tasks, then looking forward to being productive."
Once that was completed, Raimann got back to football at Central Michigan, where he was recruited as a 265-pound tight end. In his first two seasons, he caught 20 passes for 164 yards. Then, in 2020, his coaches approached him about making a move to offensive tackle.
He was hesitant at first to make the move so late in his college career. But he started putting on weight through better nutrition and increasing his lifting regime.
Then COVID-19 hit.
Central Michigan played just six games in 2020 because of COVID-19 restrictions, with Raimann starting all six at left tackle. He followed that up by being named Pro Football Focus' MAC offensive lineman of the year in 2021.
Needless to say, much like Villanueva, Raimann is a quick learner.
"The pass sets were probably the most difficult part because you don't usually go backwards as a tight end," Raimann said. "You're still involved in all the strong-side zone schemes and everything. You feel involved in the run blocking more than the pass blocking so that was a little bit more unnatural for me, but that's really when my O-line coach, coach Mike Cummings, helped me out tremendously.
"Even in the offseason during COVID time when he wasn't allowed to work with us, he would still send me long texts about what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong. I would send him clips of myself doing the drills. He would even record himself doing the right thing and try to coach me through his phone. That was tremendous of him."
Central Michigan has had some success with tight ends making the transition to offensive tackle, as well. Joe Staley made a similar move and was the 28th pick in the 2007 NFL Draft before going on to being named to the 2010 All-Decade Team after being named All-Pro three times and to the Pro Bowl six times for the 49ers.
Raimann has been training for the draft along with Central Michigan's other tackle, Luke Goedeke, with Staley this offseason as he prepares for the draft.
"It's been awesome. Even his history of playing at CMU and playing tight end and then moving to tackle as well, it's something we both look up to," Raimann said. "So it's been a huge honor to us and it's been so helpful to work with him the last couple months."
Raimann's future is at offensive tackle. He had a strong showing at the Senior Bowl last month and hopes that helps propel him to bigger things.
His footwork is strong as one might expect from a former tight end, and because he's played the game so little, particularly at tackle, he's still got a lot of room for continued growth.
But what he's already put on tape is pretty special.
And he can't wait to learn more. That was something that was asked at the Senior Bowl, as he flipped sides during the week, showing that flexibility.
"I'm open for anything. I'll play quarterback, too, if you need me to. I can't throw," he said. "Obviously at Central Michigan I started playing tackle because we were short at the position at left tackle, so I didn't really have the chance to move around or anything and play different positions on the line, but I'm looking forward to doing that moving forward."