Eric DeCosta Gets Real About Most Popular Offensive Line Prospects Linked to Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens top executive broke down two of the potential top targets at glaring positions of that could be available for him to take with the team's first overall pick in the draft.

Oct 18, 2025; Provo, Utah, USA; Utah Utes offensive lineman Spencer Fano (55) waits for the play against the BYU Cougars during the first half at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

No two prospects have been projected to get selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round mock drafts during this pre-draft cycle, especially as of late, more than a pair of Polynesian powerhouses in the University of Utah's Spencer Fano and Penn State's Olaivavega Ioane.

The person who will ultimately make the call on who the team selects with the No. 14 overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft will be general manager Eric DeCosta. He was asked about his thoughts on each player during the Ravens' annual pre-draft press conference, informally referred to as the 'Liar's Luncheon,' and offered honest assessments that align with the consensus belief about both.

"I think Fano can play wherever you want him to play," DeCosta said. "He can play tackle, he can play guard. He's a good athlete, tough. He's a good player."

The former Ute was a career offensive tackle in college, starting 36 of 37 games with 11 coming on the blindside as a freshman, and the other 35 were as the right bookend. While he possesses athleticism and acumen to play all five spots at the next level, including staying at tackle, most pundits project him to be better suited on the inside at either guard or center, given his lack of prototypical arm length at 32 1/8".

Meanwhile, with Ioane, he is widely viewed as the top offensive line prospect in this entire class, regardless of position. The former Nittany Lion is a career guard who started 40 of the 44 career games he appeared in during his four years in college. All of his starts were consecutive and at left guard after he made just four appearances as a reserve in his freshman year.

"Vega, I've seen him play a bunch, physical, tough," DeCosta said. "[He] sort of prototypes, straight from central casting, of what you want your guards to look like. I think they're both excellent prospects. I think both guys are first-round talents, both guys will probably come in right away and help your team quite a bit."

Who is the better fit between the two?

Dec 31, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions offensive lineman Olaivavega Ioane (71) against the Boise State Broncos during the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

As a senior, Fano's long list of accolades included being voted First-team an Associated Press All-American selection, winning the Outland Trophy, given to the nation's top interior lineman on either side of the ball, being named Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year, receiving First-team All-Big 12 and earning Polynesian College Co-Player of the Year honors alongside USC wide receiver Makai Lemon.

The 6-foot-5 and 311-pounder put on quite the show at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine as well by running a 4.91 in the 40-yard dash with a 10-yard split of 1.72, logging a 32-inch vertical leap and a mark of 9-foot-3 in the broad, clock times of 7.34 seconds in the three-cone drill and 4.67 seconds in the 20-yard short shuttle. He was also excellent in the on-field drills that included working out at center, snapping the ball and pulling.

Not to be outdone or outshined, Ioane senior honors included being voted Second-team AP All-American, receiving First-team All-Big Ten recognition, and being one of the 10 finalists for the Polynesian College Co-Player of the Year Award along with his fellow projected first-rounders in Fano and Lemon. The only athletic testing he did at the Combine was recording marks of 31.5 in the vertical leap and 8-foot-8 in the broad jump but his on-field drills were excellent as well.

While both players have impressive resumes, the answer to who is the better fit for the Ravens in the first round is Ioane. Even though he'd likely have to flip sides from sides to the right guard spot after the team brought back veteran left guard John Simpson on a three-year deal in free agency, that isn't nearly as big an adjustment as Fano will have to make playing a whole new position entirely.

Since the Ravens are set at both tackle spots with two-time Pro Bowl veteran Ronnie Stanley on the blindside and Roger Rosengarten on the right, the only two spots up for grabs for Fano in Baltimore would be at right guard, competing with second-year pro Emery Jones, or as the successor to three-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum.

Given that Fano has no previous experience at either position and the Ravens can't afford to potentially have a trying to fit a square peg into round hole situation with their remodeled interior offensive line, the safer, smarter and more likely pick if both were on the board when they were on the clock would be Ioane since he'd a plug-and-play starter with a much lesser learning curve.

Ravens could wait to address IOL until later rounds

Dec 19, 2025; Norman, OK, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide offensive lineman Parker Brailsford (72) against the Oklahoma Sooners during the CFP National Playoff First Round at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

One of the underrated strengths of this year's class, when it comes to depth in the eyes of Ravens and some other prominent draft analysts, is at both guard and center. They believe that there will be prospects who are taken in the later half of Day 3, where they have seven picks, including four in the fifth alone, who could come in and not only compete but earn starting jobs as rookies.

"I think it's a deep board." EDC on the O-line prospects: pic.twitter.com/DaSGs1mvE9

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 15, 2026

"All the way through [there are] players that we think will be good value in the sixth and seventh rounds that hopefully could fall to us," DeCosta said. "That's a nice position for us to be in. Last year, I don't think the offensive line board was probably quite as robust."

The Ravens have a rich history of hitting on Day 3 and even undrafted interior offensive linemen, in particular, dating as far back as Jason Brown, who was a fourth-rounder in 2005, and as recently as Patrick Mekari, a 2019 undrafted free agent. Both players started double-digit games at both guard and center in Baltimore before getting signed to lucrative deals elsewhere in free agency.

If DeCosta decides on holding off addressing either guard, center or both until the fourth round or later, some prospects the Ravens could target at either position could include the likes of Alabama's Parker Brailsford, Iowa's Beau Stephens, Auburn's Jeremiah Wright
, Duke's Brian Parker II, Notre Dame's Billy Schrauth and Dartmouth's Delby Lemieux