Down 3 centers, Ravens have few options to fix offensive line

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Three weeks in, the Ravens are down three centers.

They have no centers left on the active roster or practice squad. Barring a trade, the Ravens will have to scour the free agent market, but the pickings are slim.

In last Sunday’s game, after losing Jovaughn Gwyn and Ethan Pocic to injury, their solution was to slide starting rookie guard Vega Ioane over to snap the ball to quarterback Lamar Jackson, and for backup Andrew Vorhees to take Ioane’s spot on the line. The Ravens have indicated they could use Ioane at center going forward, meaning it might make more sense to sign a guard.

According to Ben Baldwin’s composite pass protecting rankings, which combine ratings from three major sports data sources, the Ravens are second-to-last when it comes to protecting Lamar Jackson this season. They clearly have work to do.

Here’s where the situation stands.

How we got here

After losing Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum, who was incredibly durable through his four years as a Raven, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta signed Gwyn on March 19. A week later, he added Danny Pinter.

Pinter had 10 games of NFL experience. Gwyn had 11 career offensive snaps, but they came under new offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford in Atlanta.

Just before training camp, DeCosta added Ethan Pocic, who started 57 games over four years with the Cleveland Browns. But he was recovering from a torn Achilles.

Through training camp, Pinter appeared to be in the lead for the starting job. Then he suffered a season-ending injury at the Ravens’ joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings.

Gwyn earned the nod in Week 1 and played in three games before injuring his ankle in the fourth quarter of the Week 3 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Pocic was up next. He played 10 snaps before he went down with a knee injury.

Both were seen on crutches in the locker room, and head coach Jesse Minter said Monday that both could land on injured reserve, requiring a minimum absence of four weeks (ESPN reported Gwyn had fractured his tibia and would be out two to three months).

Available centers

There are four noteworthy unrestricted free agents: Alex Cappa, Graham Glasgow, Ryan Bates and Daniel Brunskill.

The Ravens invited Glasgow to Owings Mills for a tryout, according to the NFL’s transaction wire on Tuesday. They also brought in Kingsley Eguakun, a former member of the Lions’ practice squad who was elevated for four games last season and made two starts.

Glasgow, who has primarily played at guard in 10 NFL seasons with the Detroit Lions, started 30 games in the last two seasons. However, he did not grade out well, according to Pro Football Focus, with his 56.8 overall grade last season ranking 33rd out of 40 qualifying centers. He allowed eight quarterback hits, which ranked 39th.

While Brunskill has a better 2025 PFF grade than Glasgow, he has less experience as a starter. He had a 60.7 overall PFF grade and was a better run blocker than pass protector.

Cappa has seen his play drop off over the last two seasons, but he brings both guard and center experience. He was also on a bad Las Vegas Raiders team last season; perhaps the Ravens will decide he could hold up better surrounded by better teammates and coaches.

The bulk of Bates’ experience in the last three years has come as a backup or on special teams. Last season, he did not play a single offensive snap.

The Ravens could also look at undrafted rookie free agents, like Nick Dawkins, who was here for training camp. They’d have more experience at the position than Ioane but less raw talent.

Going guard, sticking with Ioane

As a rookie who was immediately slotted in at starting right guard, Ioane had never taken an NFL game snap at center — and had only 17 in college at Penn State.

He added eight more on Sunday.

He had done some work on snapping the ball in practice; assistant offensive line coach Shawn Flaherty told him a few weeks ago to take center snaps just in case.

Duke Manyweather, a private offensive line instructor, said Ioane trains at both guard spots and center in the offseason and has the IQ to make the position switch.

Ioane is still adjusting to the NFL — rarely penalized in college, he was whistled twice for holding in the season opener and then struggled in the Week 2 loss to the Saints —so the Ravens may not want to interfere with his development at guard.

But if they decide he’s the best option at center, they have a better pool of free agent guards to choose from.

Former Ravens guard Kevin Zeitler was the best option available, but the Packers snatched him up.

James Daniels has starting experience from his time in Chicago and Pittsburgh and graded out very well. But he only played three offensive snaps last season with Miami before landing on injured reserve with a pectoral injury. He also has center experience, although he last played center in 2019.

Robert Jones has plenty of starting experience, although he missed the 2025 season with a neck injury. He participated in the 49ers training camp but lost the spot. Prior to his injury, he had a blown-block rate of 2.4% and won 97.4% of his pass blocking sets.

Will Hernandez was very bad for the Arizona Cardinals last season, but he had three straight good seasons for them before that. He’s 31, so maybe his skills have diminished, but like Cappa, he was on a bad team.

Max Scharping has played both right and left guard as well as center. When he carried a heavy snap count, he didn’t grade out well, but he provides some versatility as well as NFL experience.

The Ravens included Kyle Hergel, a guard who spent time on the Bears practice squad last year when current Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle coached there, in their visits Tuesday. But Hergel has played a total of 45 NFL snaps, and none since 2024.

Either way, the Ravens are in a pickle. They can either take a gamble on their in-house options or on a reclamation project in the free agent market.