For some NFL teams, they have a persona that they identify with, and for the Baltimore Ravens, it is that they are a tough, physical football team.
From the days of Ray Lewis to now, with the hard-nosed style of Jesse Minter, the Ravens are getting back to their brutal style of play. Well, that’s the hope anyway.
And you need certain players to carry out that vision, and it starts in the NFL Draft, where the Ravens selected Penn State guard Olaivavega Ioane.
NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks thinks that Ioane is the ideal Ravens player for Minter.
“There was no one in the 2026 class who embodied the team’s “Play Like A Raven” mantra more than the Penn State standout,” Brooks wrote. “Thanks to his rugged playing style and nasty demeanor, Ioane should mesh well with the organizational culture of physicality, toughness and disciplined football.
“As a big-bodied people-mover with heavy hands and explosive lower body strength, he’s a perfect fit for the Ravens’ power-based attack, which lost guard Daniel Faalele and center Tyler Linderbaum from the interior O-line.”
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Ioane has huge Year 1 task
For some rookies, they can be eased into life as an NFL player; for others, like Ioane, they’ll be tasked with protecting one of the best quarterbacks in football from Day 1.
And it is a job he has to do well, because Baltimore has big aspirations in 2026, as the franchise missed out on the postseason in 2025, so that is the bare minimum expected from Minter in 2026.
That means Lamar Jackson’s offensive line, which Ioane will be a part of, has to hold up and protect the two-time MVP winner.
If he can’t, what the Ravens could look like offensively isn’t a good thing for fans to think about.
So, yeah, no pressure, Ioane.
