Ravens Plan To Make Final Decision on Next Starting Center Soon

The Baltimore Ravens are closing in on declaring a victor of their top position battle from training camp and preseason.

Aug 28, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens center Jovaughn Gwyn (54) blocks Washington Commanders tackle Ricky Barber (50) during the first quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With training camp and the preseason in the rearview and Week 1 of the regular season coming up next week, so too is the Baltimore Ravens' reveal of who will begin the 2026 campaign as the new anchor of their remodeled interior offensive line.

Ever since homegrown three-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum departed in free agency to blow the roof off the top of the market at his position, who will be his replacement has been one of the burning questions surrounding the team, especially with the hiring of a new play-caller and the installation of a new scheme.

In the past, the Ravens have shied away from making such proclamations public for competitive advantage reasons, and that very well may continue to be the case under new head coach Jesse Minter. Still, internally, the decision on who will open the season at starting center is imminent.

"It is still up in the air," offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. "We are going to finish this week of preparation. We have one more practice tomorrow and then [we will] sit down — 'Led' [run game coordinator/offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford], [head coach] Jesse [Minter], myself — and discuss how we want to handle that moving forward.

With former leading candidate Danny Pinter out for the season with a torn patellar tendon he suffered during joint practices against the Minnesota Vikings, the two players left standing in contention for the position are fourth-year pro Jovaughn Gwyn and 10th-year veteran Ethan Pocic, both of whom the coaching staff remains high on.

"[I] feel really good about how both of those guys have responded with the reps we have given them, but that is where we are at right now," Doyle said.

Writing has been on the wall for a while

Aug 28, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens center Ethan Pocic (77) blocks during the second quarter against the Washington Commanders at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

While the Ravens haven't and likely won't tip their hand publicly until they trot out their starting lineup onto the field for the first time at Lucas Oil Stadium when they take on the Indianapolis Colts, their actions up to this point paint a pretty clear picture about who their ultimate successor at center will be.

Although they planned to ramp up Pocic's reps with the first-team offense leading up to Week 2 of the preseason, even before Pinter went down, since that time, Gwyn has been taking the bulk of the snaps with the starters in practice. Not only did he start the Ravens' final two preseason games, but he was pulled after only a few series- treatment typically reserved for a projected starter or at least the clear front-runner

"Dwayne had a lot of excitement about him, and he has done a great job for us," general manager Eric DeCosta said. "I do not know what it is going to look like Week 1 because I have not seen what it is going to look like yet, but I am excited about it, and I think that we will probably build and build and build, and hopefully in January and February we are playing our best football."

Gwyn is the far less experienced of the two in terms of starts and overall playing time, with no starts and just 11 offensive snaps taken over his first three years in the league, compared to Pocic, who has started 97 of the 114 games he's appeared in over his first nine.

Nevertheless, all signs indicate that Gwyn will be anointed the victor of the top training camp position battle and that he'll at least open the regular season as the starter. He has familiarity with Ledford and the blocking scheme the Ravens will be running under him from their time together with the Atlanta Falcons.

If the 2023 seventh-rounder doesn't consistently perform at a high level or struggles at any point, Pocic is waiting in the wings and is further removed from the torn Achilles tendon that ended his 2025 campaign early in December. Either way, the Ravens have two competent options at the positions who they believe inf