Ravens Take Penn State Guard, Ioane, with 14th Overall Pick
Ravens GM Eric DeCosta and new head coach Jessie Minter made a promise to rebuild the trenches, and with their selection last night in the first round of the NFL draft the Ravens appear to be on track to doing just that. The board fell nearly perfectly for the Ravens on Thursday night as they had their pick of Penn State guard Olaivavega, Miami edge rusher Reuben Bain Jr. or Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq, all three had been linked to the Ravens over the last several months prior to the start of the draft. But the Ravens waisted little time in making their pick selecting the 6’4″ 329 Ibs guard out of Penns State.
Ioane was considered by some pundits to be the best lineman in the entire draft, and discussions just before the start of the draft last night began to make it sound like Ioane might not even make it to the Ravens at pick number 14. But as the draft started and the board fell the Ravens were able to get their guy, a guy they hope can be here for a long time to help protect their MVP winning quarterback.
Ioane had a stellar career at Penn State, in 32 career starts Ioane allowed zero sacks, and was named First-Team All-Big 10 as well as being named a First-Team All-American.
The Ravens were in desperate need of guard as they struggled mightily at their two guard spots last year with Andrew Vorhees and Daniel Faalele. Minter was not committal about which guard spot Ioane will play, at last night press conference, come the start of the season. While Ioane played mostly left guard at Penn State, he did play sparingly at right guard early in his career with the Nittany Lions. The Ravens hope second year guard Emory Jones Jr. will make a jump, allowing Jones Jr. to possibly at right guard while Ioane slides into the left guard spot come week one.
The Ravens currently hold the 45th and 80th overall picks in rounds two and three set to begin at 7 P.M. tonight. The Ravens will look to continue to add depth to this team, and will likely have their eyes set on a defensive back, tight end, edge rusher, or possibly even another offensive lineman should the right one be available.
