Early Frontrunner in Baltimore Ravens Center Competition Could be Emerging

There is a lot of time between now and the start of the 2026 regular season for the Baltimore Ravens to make a move to bring in a more experienced veteran to fill the void in the middle of the starting offensive line that was created when three-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum departed in free agency.

The 2022 first-round pick blew the top off the market at his position to become the highest-paid interior offensive lineman overall in the entire league with the Las Vegas Raiders to be the anchor of their blocking unit.

After watching their top two center prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft come off the board much sooner than they anticipated, they opted not to spend a pick on a rookie altogether but did add one as an undrafted free agent in Penn State's Nick Dawkins.

The Ravens brass has expressed confidence in their current in-house options to compete for the spot every time one of them has stepped to a podium and was asked about it. In addition to Dawkins, the shortlist includes veteran Danny Pinter, fourth-year pro Jovaughn Gwyn and third-year pro Corey Bullock.

Early frontrunner is making strong impression

While there isn't a whole lot that can be gleaned from trench players until the pads come on, that hasn't stopped Pinter from staking his claim as the potential way-too-early favorite to win the starting job. He was the first man up to take the field with the first-team offense in the first Organized Team Activity session open to the media, and drew praise from head coach Jesse Minter and one of his new teammates, who could be lining up next to him for live action come September.

"Danny's done a great job," Minter said. "He's got some experience, he's played in some similar schemes. Jovaughn as well and Corey has been doing a great job."

Minter prefaced those comments by reiterating that competition remains open, and just because Pinter was the first man up doesn't mean he'll be taking the bulk of first-team reps moving forward.

"That's gonna be one where you may see somebody different there every day," Minter said. "[It's] not necessarily a depth chart competition at this point, I would say, [but] more of a rotation piece to make sure guys know where they're at, they get the same amount of reps [and] they get to run the different schemes."

Pinter is the most experienced of the bunch, a seventh-year veteran who spent the first six seasons of his career with the Indianapolis Colts as a reserve interior offensive lineman, backing up Pro Bowlers Ryan Kelly at center and Quenton Nelson at guard. The former 2020 fifth-rounder has appeared in 77 career games, made 10 starts, and was recently praised by his new position coach for his movement skills.

"The athlete that he is and the things that you saw on tape, I'm excited," offensive line coach and run-game coordinator Dwayne Ledford said in a recent appearance on "The Lounge" podcast.

At 6-foot-4 and 306 pounds, he looks the part physically, but it's the other intangibles that come with playing center at a high starting-caliber level that have caught the attention and earned respect from some of his new teammates.

"He's been great, man," veteran left guard John Simpson said. "He's coming in, communicating well, just knowing his stuff, and he's playing at a level I feel like where we can get up there. He calls it out, and we just go, and that's what you need from a center."

Dark horse canidate receives strong endorsement

Aug 15, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons guard Jovaughn Gwyn (52) blocks against the Tennessee Titans in the second quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

As the only interior offensive lineman who has previously been coached by Ledford during their time together with the Falcons, Gwyn shouldn't be overlooked or counted out in the open competition to succeed Linderbaum. The 2023 seventh-rounder with just 19 game appearances and no starts under his belt spent the first three seasons of his career biding his time and getting groomed to assume a larger role when the opportunity presented itself.

"He's been training for this opportunity for three years in Atlanta," Ledford said. "I'm excited to see him with the possibility to take that next step forward in his career."

The two of them experienced a similar situation to the one that the Ravens find themselves in this year, with the Falcons in 2025, in search of a new starter at center from a group of unknown, unproven, and inexperienced internal candidates.

"We went through a center change in Atlanta when we had Drew Dallman and we lost Drew to free agency," Ledford said. "We had a guy there, Ryan Neuzil, who had been training for that opportunity for a while and he got an opportunity and did really well with it."

While Pinter might have an early edge in the race at the moment, Gwyn could eventually emerge as the 2026 version of Neuzil for the Ravens and replace Linderbaum as the next anchor of the starting offensive line in Baltimore.

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