The Ravens’ quarterback depth took a brutal hit Sunday, and the next man up was an undrafted rookie most fans had barely heard of before kickoff.
With Lamar Jackson leaving after his first throw of the day against the Bills and Tyler Huntley also exiting later with an injury, Baltimore suddenly found itself down to its emergency third quarterback. Both Jackson and Huntley were ruled out, forcing the Ravens to hand the offense to Joe Fagnano in a major matchup.
Fagnano is a 25-year-old rookie from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, listed at 6-3 and 230 pounds. Baltimore signed him after the 2026 NFL Draft, and until Sunday he had been buried behind Jackson and Huntley on the depth chart. Now he’s in the spotlight, and he could be asked to keep playing if both quarterbacks remain sidelined.
His rise to this moment has been a long one. Fagnano first showed up at Maine as a walk-on, earned a scholarship, and won the starting job right away in 2019. He stayed with the Black Bears for four seasons, though the 2020 and 2021 campaigns were shortened for him, leaving him with just eight combined games across those two years.
After the 2022 season, he moved on to UConn to play at the FBS level. A shoulder injury cut short his 2023 season, but he put it all together in 2025 and turned in the best year of his college career, throwing 28 touchdowns against just one interception.
Here’s how his college production stacked up:
2019 at Maine: 8 games, 1,835 passing yards, 17 passing TDs, 3 INTs
2020 at Maine: 4 games, 795 passing yards, 8 passing TDs, 1 INT
2021 at Maine: 4 games, 794 passing yards, 6 passing TDs, 2 INTs
2022 at Maine: 11 games, 2,250 passing yards, 15 passing TDs, 6 INTs
2023 at UConn: 2 games, 173 passing yards, 0 passing TDs, 1 INT
2024 at UConn: 10 games, 1,631 passing yards, 20 passing TDs, 4 INTs
2025 at UConn: 12 games, 3,448 passing yards, 28 passing TDs, 1 INT
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