The Ravens came out of their wild 34-31 win over the Cowboys in Brazil with more than a victory to celebrate. They also walked away with a center problem that has turned into a full-blown roster headache.
Baltimore started the game with Jovaughn Gwyn at center, but he left in the second half with an ankle injury. Ethan Pocic was next up, and his stint did not last long either before a knee injury knocked him out as well. By the time both were gone, the Ravens had run out of centers entirely and had to start moving pieces around just to finish the game.
That scramble sent rookie Vega Ioane from right guard to center, while Andrew Vorhees slid into the open spot at right guard. For now, that emergency fix appears to be the plan again in Week 4 against the Titans.
Coach Jesse Minter said Monday that both Gwyn and Pocic are expected to be out for a while.
"I don't have the full details, but they both look like they'll be a little bit long term," Minter said Monday, via the team's website.
Ioane’s move in Brazil was not exactly a leap into the unknown. He was the 14th overall pick in this year’s draft, starred as an All-America offensive lineman at Penn State and did take a few practice snaps at center over the past few weeks. Still, he played fewer than 20 snaps at the position in his four-year college career, so Baltimore was asking him to handle a job he had barely worked on in games.
Even so, Minter sounded prepared to keep him there, at least for Sunday.
"As we sort through making our roster better over the next couple of days, he'll prepare to play that position," Minter said. "We'll figure out the best five guys to put out there for this particular week. We may add a piece or two from losing a couple of guys."
Ioane described the moment after the win as a matter of being ready when called upon.
"A big mindset from college too, our O-line coach was always talking about, 'Be ready for when your number's called,'" Ioane said follwing the win, via The Athletic. "It's unfortunate how it happened, but you just got to step up and be ready for the moment."
The short-term answer is clear enough. The longer-term picture is much messier.
If Ioane handles center well, Baltimore could leave him there and sort out right guard with Vorhees or Emery Jones Jr. Vorhees appears to have the edge at the moment, though Jones remains an option.
The Ravens could also look outside the building, and Kevin Zeitler is one name worth watching. According to Sports Illustrated, the former Pro Bowl guard is willing to play this season, but only for a contender.
He also knows Baltimore well after spending three seasons there from 2021-23.
A guard addition would make more sense than chasing a center, mainly because the market is thin. The source of the problem goes beyond one game, too. Center depth has been battered around the league this offseason, with the Bears losing Drew Dalman to retirement, the Chargers losing Tyler Biadasz to a season-ending injury and the Lions losing Cade Mays to a broken wrist that will likely keep him out until after Detroit’s Week 6 bye.
Baltimore’s own center depth has been thinned out for months. The team held a training camp competition after Tyler Linderbaum signed with the Raiders in March.
Danny Pinter looked set to win the job before tearing his patellar tendon in camp and missing the season. Gwyn then beat out Pocic, only for both to get hurt now and leave the Ravens without an experienced center on the roster.
The Ravens did have Corey Bullock in camp, but he was released and later claimed off waivers by the Panthers before Baltimore could stash him on the practice squad.
"Once we lost Danny, we were kind of down to two," Minter said. "You always want to have that third guy, particularly when one of the guys we were going to potentially keep on practice squad got claimed.
Now, you're trying to create depth at that position. Credit to (Ioane).
He went in there at a couple of critical moments of the game and our offense scored a go-ahead touchdown and obviously operating on that last drive."
For a team built around Lamar Jackson, the immediate priority is simple: find someone who can snap the ball. For Week 4, that responsibility belongs to Ioane. After that, the Ravens will keep searching for a real solution.
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