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If Phil Trautwein could choose one player to bring with him from his former job as Penn State’s offensive line coach to his new job at the University of Florida, he would without a doubt pick Vega Ioane.

The combination of Ioane’s athleticism, intelligence and heart makes him exactly the type of guy coaches mean when they talk about tone setters. That combination is also why Trautwein won’t have the option to try to entice Ioane to transfer.

After a successful college career, Ioane has set his sights on the draft despite one more year of college eligibility. And teams have set their sights on Ioane.

Although he hasn’t played the flashier position of tackle since high school, Ioane’s positional value has increased as the league has reset its focus on the trenches. Depending on who is doing the evaluating, Ioane is one of, if not the best, guard options in the draft.

And the Baltimore Ravens are in the hunt for a guard after the departure of right guard Daniel Faalele, the inconsistent season of left guard Andrew Vorhees, and the lost season of rookie Emery Jones Jr. as he recovered from a shoulder injury. That’s why at least six different experts have the Ravens picking Ioane with their No. 14 pick.

“Obviously seen him play a bunch. Physical, tough. Probably a guard is what he probably is. Sort of a prototype, straight from central casting of what you want your guards to look like,” said general manager Eric DeCosta, who also called Ioane an “excellent prospect” and “first-round talent.”

Baltimore’s interest in Ioana may have increased after the blockbuster trade of Dexter Lawrence, one of the most disruptive defensive tackles in the league, to AFC North rival Cincinnati.

To the general public, Ioane is best known for the viral video of him leaping over a railing to help an equipment manager push a cart up a hill. It was an impressive display of athleticism combined with compassion, two hallmarks of Ioane’s character.

“It’s as simple as helping out someone that needs it, not much to it,” Ioane said, brushing it off.

But Ioane impressed those watching him carefully well before the viral video, as evidenced by his All-Big 10 honorable mention after his redshirt freshman year when he played 13 games and started in five.

He’s impressed Trautwein for even longer.

After growing up in American Samoa, Ioane moved with his family to Washington state, where his father was a carpenter, Trautwein said.

He and his eight siblings lived in a cinderblock house built by their father, with no television and no windows, Trautwein said. They slept on the ground.

The youngest, Ioane watched his older brothers play football “back on the islands,” but he wasn’t allowed to play until he was in high school. However, his parents wanted him to focus on academics, so he started sneaking out to play football, Ioane recently recounted at the NFL scouting combine.

“It took them like three games to figure it out,” Ioane said with a grin.

Eric Kurle was the coach at Graham-Kapowsin High School and didn’t realize Ioane didn’t have his parents’ permission. The intrepid student had all the right forms, including his physical.

Ioane couldn’t attend Wednesday practices — Kurle later found out his parents had him singing in the church choir since they didn’t know he was playing football. That changed once they realized how special their son could be.

“And then he was there, every day, and a leader from there on,” Kurle said.

While Ioane loved the game, he also loved the idea of what it could do for his family. As a teenager, he was already devoted to becoming the best he could be. He decided that Penn State would help him get there. It didn’t matter that he was far from home. He was dedicated to his craft.

“He was okay moving all the way across the country to do that,” Trautwein said. “I mean, he flew over a lot of schools. He lives 45 minutes from Washington. He lives an hour from Oregon.”

In fact, the University of Washington, where he was originally committed before a coaching change, pursued him hard until the final minute, but Ioane decided to fly to the opposite side of the country.

“I think he kind of thought, deep down, if I’m UW, I might have other distractions,” Kurle said. “Yes, the family is everything to him and everything like that. But I think he knew that he had to take some time to just dedicate to himself to be great.”

Once at Penn State, Ioane stuck it out through the hard times, which often push players to transfer, as well as the good times, which also entice players to transfer. He said he’s here, getting ready to be drafted to the NFL, because of Trautwein.

Loyalty is a hallmark of Ioane, and it’s something that a team that drafts him will earn.

Ioane cut an impressive figure when he arrived at Penn State, but he was also overweight for his optimal playing size. He worked just as hard off the field as on the field to be at his best.

“He had a bad body, but he worked his butt off and ate right and did the right things and with the nutritionist,” Trautwein said.

He built up his strength and power while perfecting his technique and fundamentals. Ioane acknowledged at the combine that it took him a while to learn to play with physicality, but facing Penn State’s aggressive defensive linemen forced him to learn fast.

Kurle and his wife watch every Penn State game together and witnessed as Ioane made his way into the first-round discussion.

“He was a left tackle for us because he was our best player, but guard made sense for him in college because he’s this big, strong guy inside and a mauler,” Kurle said.

His pass protection was one of his weakest areas, but once he figured it out, he vaulted into the elite ranks. His teammates joked in a Penn State video that Ioane was the only lineman who could get positive points on PFF, a football grading system.

“He was probably mediocre his first three years, was kind of hesitant on throwing his punch,” Trautwein said. “And then these last two years, he really worked on that, worked on his hands, worked on his craft. Really became a violent puncher and probably became one of the best pass pro guards last year in college football.”

Ioane said at the combine that he felt confident in what he had displayed through the season and wanted to build on that. He walked away with the second-highest score of all offensive linemen (and first among guards), according to his combine profile.

In addition to becoming one of the best at his position, Ioane mastered other roles as well. He learned to play as a sixth and seventh offensive lineman and even occasionally took snaps as a tight end.

Trautwein said he didn’t coach Ioane on those roles. He just sent him a PDF with all the potential plays and Ioane took the time to memorize it. When Trautwein threw him out there, Ioane knew exactly where to go and what to do.

Ioane isn’t just a student in the classroom. At the combine, he described how he continues to study the game in the heat of the moment.

“It starts quarter one, play one of the game. I go out there and see how they play as soon as the game starts,” Ioane said. “It’s adjusting — that’s my biggest thing when I play the game, is that I learn as the game goes on.”

The way talent, intelligence and heart come together in a 6-foot-4, 320-pound package makes Trautwein believe that Ioane is going to have power over his NFL career once he is given an opportunity.

“This is what I truly believe, that in 13 years, 14 years, basically when he wants to, he’s going to decide when his career ends,” Trautwein said.

First, he’s got to get his career started, but DeCosta doesn’t think he’ll have any issue with that.

“[He’ll] probably come in right away and help your team quite a bit,” DeCosta said.