Baltimore Ravens rookie LaJohntay Wester had dreamed about this moment.
Before he starred collegiately at Colorado and Florida Atlantic.
Way before he starred at Palmetto High School.
The dream was born on the Palmetto Youth Center football field. Its seeds were planted there and nurtured for Wester, as well as brothers John Jr. and Jaylen, after each put on the pads for the first time as Palmetto Trojans.
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“Dreamed about it? Oh, yeah,” Wester, 23, said from Baltimore Ravens training camp in Owings Mills, Maryland. “All three of us envisioned making plays in the NFL when we were kids. I dreamed about a moment like that since I started playing the game at 6.
“I know God was showing me my time’s coming, and it came that night versus the Colts.”
And how.
Wide receiver LaJohntay Wester of the Baltimore Ravens scores a touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts in the first half during the NFL Preseason 2025 game between Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on August 7, 2025 in Baltimore.
Wester’s breathtaking 87-yard punt return for a TD in the first preseason game a month ago against visiting Indianapolis electrified the crowd at Baltimore’s MT&T Bank Stadium, demonstrating the big-play traits the Ravens sought when they drafted him in the sixth round last April.
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After being mobbed by celebrating teammates, Wester looked up, saw his face on the stadium jumbotron and, as Clifton Brown with BaltimoreRavens.com wrote, he nodded confidently as if to say, “This is what I do.”
Wester had made a statement, all right.
The 5-foot-9, 170-pounder had served notice he belonged on the Ravens’ 53-man regular season roster and he will be on the field in Buffalo for NBC’s Sunday Night Football 2025 season opener between these AFC heavyweights.
“I was confident even before the roster officially came out because I know what type of player I am and what I bring to the table,” Wester said. “I was confident I was going to make this team.”
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LaJohntay Wester prepared for the NFL his whole life
LaJohntay Wester of the Baltimore Ravens runs with the ball as Car’lin Vigers of the Washington Commanders defends during the first half of the NFL Preseason 2025 game at Northwest Stadium on August 23, 2025 in Landover, Maryland.
Wester’s ecstatic parents, John Sr. and Laquita, were in Baltimore for the Colts game, sharing their joy with jubilant Ravens fans sitting around them.
“It was a beautiful thing to see,” Wester’s mother said. “He was 8 when he realized, ‘I can do this,’ and it’s been all-go since then.”
Growing up in a household where what mattered were family, faith, and football in that order helped guide him.
“Talent only takes you so far,” Laquita Wester said. “You have to have the hand of God in your life. That makes you explosive on a whole different level. That’s the foundation we raised him on.”
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That resonated with John Jr., their oldest son, a defensive back preparing for a tryout with the United Football League.
Watching his younger brother’s rousing punt return on TV made him proud. Word he’d made the Ravens made him more so.
“It’s like everybody won. It’s a huge blessing,” he said from the apartment he shares with Jaylen, a senior linebacker at Western Kentucky. “It’s a testament to how hard he works. That work ethic was instilled in us very young.”
It wasn’t all about football, either, for the Wester brothers, who would later be teammates at Palmetto High and FAU.
Palmetto’s Lajohntay Wester (1) heads upfield for a gain as Port Charlotte’s Steffon McGowan (10) trie to bring him down during Friday night action in Port Charlotte. ( Herald-Tribune photo / Matt Houston )
“We had middle school, Trojans, and church all in the same vicinity. Mom made sure we went to after-school programs – how to study, how to manage our money – and church, bible study, choir, were mandatory. If we wanted to play sports, we had to be involved in that. It gave us balance in our lives.”
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The Trojans’ field was their personal stage, and John Jr.’s memories of LaJohntay are vivid.
“Tay was always the smallest player on the field – you’d just see a big ol’ helmet running around – but he was very athletic, very quick and twitchy. He’d line up at quarterback, running back or wide receiver, wherever he was needed to help the team win.”
But there was one game where a bigger team keyed on him, frustrating him, his brother recalled. It was a formative moment.
“LaJohntay started crying. My dad hates to see that. He takes the game seriously, just like us. He told him, ‘You’re going to finish this game,’ and he did. It was big for him mentally and physically.”
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Neither Wester’s self-confidence nor that big punt return surprised Willie Taggart that night against the Colts. The Ravens assistant head coach, former Manatee High state champion quarterback, and a fellow son of Palmetto had an idea of what was coming hours before kickoff.
“LaJohntay and I were sitting in a meeting and I asked him, ‘So what do you think about the city? What do you think about Baltimore?’” Taggart said, according to BaltimoreRavens.com. “He’s like, ‘Coach, I’m going to introduce myself to the city tonight.’ He kind of spoke it into existence, but that’s what he does.”
LaJohntay Wester proves doubters wrong
Florida Atlantic wide receiver LaJohntay Wester (1) looks for running room during a 42-20 victory over Monmouth at FAU Stadium on Saturday, September 2, 2023, in Boca Raton, FL.
Taggart had a personal stake in Wester’s success.
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Wester had been lightly recruited out of Palmetto High, the rap being his size, said Dave Marino, the Tigers head coach at the time.
His only shot was seemingly with Bowling Green, which offered him a gray shirt that delays full-time enrollment and a scholarship by a semester. But at the 11th hour, Taggart, preparing for his first season as FAU head coach, fortuitously made Wester an offer.
Previously: Palmetto High grad LaJohntay Wester emerges as Florida Atlantic’s all-time leading receiver
“The last recruiting weekend, Willie calls me Sunday night: ‘Can we get LaJohntay to visit tomorrow?’” Marino recalled. “I tell him, ‘I’m sure he will. You’re family. You’re from Palmetto.’ So LaJohntay goes down there. Not only does he end up there, but they’re game-planning for him his freshman year.”
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Indeed, Wester’s career flourished in college, starting with Taggart.
Sep 21, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver LaJohntay Wester (10) celebrates after catching a pass to tie the game in the final seconds of the game against the Baylor Bears at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images
His first three seasons at FAU, he caught 252 passes for 1,535 yards and 13 TDs before Taggart was fired and joined the Ravens. Then he caught 108 passes for another 1,168 yards and eight TDs his one season under new coach Tom Herman.
“LaJohntay’s a playmaker,” said Marino, now a Cardinal Mooney assistant coach. “Great kid. High character. He checks all the boxes. He’s got that shake, that wiggle, that tenacity. He’s making catches. He’s making people miss. He’s moving the chains. He’s doing all the dirty work.”
Transferring to Colorado and Deion Sanders’ high-profile program, Wester paired with Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders and caught 74 catches for 931 yards and 10 touchdowns.
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“Coach Prime prepared me for the league,” Wester said. “He was tough on me, made me work for everything I got at Colorado, exactly like it is with the Ravens.”
Willie Taggart has LaJohntay Wester’s back
LaJohntay Wester of the Baltimore Ravens celebrates with head coach John Harbaugh after returning a kick for a touchdown in the first quarter against the Indianapolis Colts during the NFL Preseason 2025 game at M&T Bank Stadium on August 07, 2025 in Baltimore.
Wester may have been out of Taggart’s sight, but Marino surmised, he wasn’t out of Taggart’s mind back in Baltimore as the 2025 NFL Draft drew near.
“I guarantee if I was a fly on the wall of those pre-draft meetings, Taggart’s probably like, ‘Hey, man, we almost missed this kid coming out of high school. Let’s not make the same mistake at this level.’
“So LaJohntay’s not 6-foot-1 or whatever. He’s just a little undersized. OK, look how many guys have made it in the NFL who are undersized. Thank God Tag is with the Ravens. LaJohntay would have probably been an undrafted free agent otherwise.”
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In fact, Taggart did the honors, phoning Wester to tell him he’d been picked by the Ravens. They could hardly hear each other over the celebration in the Wester home, according to BaltimoreRavens.com.
“We get to do it again,” Wester told his old coach. ”We get to do it again.”
“You’re gonna fit in perfectly here,” Taggart responded.
LaJohntay Wester of the Baltimore Ravens runs with the ball in the first quarter of the NFL Preseason 2025 game against the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium on August 23, 2025 in Landover, Maryland.
That bond of trust in the cutthroat NFL isn’t lost on Wester.
“It’s powerful,” he said. “Coach Tag made my transition from college to the NFL way easier. He knows what it takes to stay in the league, keeps giving me tips day in and day out. He’s always been there for me, and the way I repay him is with my performance on the field and how I come to work every day.”
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And what message would Wester give to the youngsters chasing those very same dreams at the Trojans field today?
“I’d tell kids always have confidence. You’ve got to work for it. There’s going to be times you’re going to want to quit, give up. But you’ve got to keep pushing through, because it gets better on the other side of that door, the other side of adversity. You’ve got to keep playing, keep God first, and everything will follow.”
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Baltimore Ravens rookie receiver LaJohntay Wester ready for NFL debut