Why Vega Ioane, Travis Jones and Malaki Starks can be the Ravens’ breakout stars in 2026

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The Ravens’ disappointing 2025 season had many culprits. Brutal injuries. Questionable coaching. A difficult early-season schedule.

Underscoring it all was a sobering development: Far more contributors regressed than took a meaningful step forward.

With the Ravens’ first full-team practice of training camp a week away, coach Jesse Minter’s player development will be scrutinized as he looks to lead the team back to the playoffs. But who’s primed for a breakout season?

Here are three top contenders for 2026 — and four others who shouldn’t be overlooked.

OL Vega Ioane

The last rookie guard to make the Pro Bowl was the Indianapolis Colts’ Quenton Nelson, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft. Ioane is not the generational prospect that Nelson was, especially as a run blocker, but the No. 14 overall pick could match or surpass Nelson’s Year 1 production in pass protection (two sacks and 24 pressures allowed in 811 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus).

Ioane was a brick wall at Penn State, allowing no sacks and just one quarterback hit over his last two seasons. Ravens coaches have raved as though he’s building another one in Owings Mills. “The best thing about him is just how hard he works and how serious he takes his craft,” Minter said in May. “And so, every day he does something, he comes back, it’s a little bit better the next day.”

Of course, the learning curve for rookies can be severe. And Ioane will be tested early: The Indianapolis Colts’ DeForest Buckner (Week 1), the Dallas Cowboys’ Quinnen Williams (Week 3) and the Tennessee Titans’ Jeffery Simmons (Week 4) are three of the NFL’s 11 highest-paid interior defensive linemen. Take care of business in September and October, and who knows where Ioane’s hype could be by December.

DL Travis Jones

Jones has already played like one of the NFL’s best nose tackles. He just happened to do it for a defense last year that fell apart around him.

In 16 games, he had 35 quarterback pressures from an interior position, according to Sports Info Solutions. Only the Los Angeles Rams’ Kobie Turner had more, with 36. Jones also had 23 run stops, tackles that generated negative value for the offense. Only inside linebacker Roquan Smith had as many stops in Baltimore, according to Pro Football Focus, and no teammate posted them at a higher rate than Jones’ 9.6%.

Jones’ surest path to prominence is a steady stream of sacks. He had five last year, a career high and more than he had in his three previous seasons combined. If the Ravens can find another interior rusher to free up more one-on-ones for Jones — defensive linemen Nnamdi Madubuike and Calais Campbell are good candidates — he could deliver a season that echoes Haloti Ngata in his prime.

S Malaki Starks

Starks’ rookie year was perhaps a victim of expectations. At Georgia, he was an instant-impact freshman starter, picking off then-Oregon quarterback Bo Nix in the 2022 season opener and playing more than any other Bulldogs defender. Starks’ draft buzz — he was the first safety taken last year, ahead of the Seattle Seahawks’ Nick Emmanwori — only added to the pressure.

And then, like a lot of rookie safeties, including all-everything teammate Kyle Hamilton, Starks struggled early. Over the first nine weeks of the season, he ranked 46th among the 68 safeties with at least 300 defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. There were shortcomings as a run defender, as a center fielder and as a red-zone defender.

But as the Ravens’ second-half schedule eased up, Starks leveled up. From Week 10 to Week 18, Starks ranked 15th among PFF’s 69 safeties with at least 300 defensive snaps. Missed tackles remained an issue, but he was targeted less frequently in coverage and allowed just one completion of at least 15 air yards, according to Sports Info Solutions — a 41-yarder from Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who had all day to find wide receiver DK Metcalf improvising over the middle of the field.

Starks could take a big leap in Year 2 and still remain in Hamilton’s shadow. Safeties without impressive ball production or disruptive play near the line of scrimmage don’t tend to get noticed. But a year of experience, and a summer of tutelage from Minter and secondary coach Mike Mickens, should only help.

Honorable mentions

WR Devontez Walker: Walker has been a walking big play over two NFL seasons (22.4 yards per catch), a quality that should endear him to offensive coordinator Declan Doyle. And his usage should only go up if he’s the third receiver in a system that leans more into three-receiver sets. But can Walker command more targets? He has just 11 over his two-year career.

RT Roger Rosengarten: Rosengarten had a surprising second season, showing more consistency as a run blocker than as a pass blocker. But his form improved down the stretch, allowing no sacks over the Ravens’ final seven games, according to PFF. Rosengarten’s movement skills should be a good fit in a more zone-heavy running scheme, and with more reliable pass protection, he can be one of the NFL’s better right tackles.

OLB Mike Green: Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said in June that Green had a catalogue of near-miss sacks last season. But the 2025 second-round pick needs more pressures to set the foundation for a high-impact season. Over the first half of his rookie year, Green’s win rate on “true pass sets” — what PFF defines as plays with at least four pass rushers, no play-action, no screens and a time to throw of at least two seconds — was in the bottom quartile of the league’s most active edge rushers (10.9%). Over the second half, it jumped to closer to league average (15.3%).

CB Nate Wiggins: Wiggins’ ball skills and track-down speed are obvious. But even with the struggling Marlon Humphrey sharing cornerback snaps last season, quarterbacks had no fear in testing the 2024 first-round pick. Only Denver Broncos cornerback Riley Moss was targeted more often last season, according to PFF, and Moss had star Patrick Surtain II blanketing the other side of the field. Wiggins should benefit from an improved pass rush and can take a step forward under Mickens, who churned out high-quality cornerbacks at Notre Dame.