The Baltimore Ravens went down to Brazil and beat the Dallas Cowboys in a wild game on Sunday, but that 34-31 victory came at a huge cost. The Ravens lost two centers to injury, and now they have exactly zero centers on their roster.
Jovaughn Gwyn went into the game as the starting center, but he went down with an ankle injury in the second half. With Gwyn out, Ethan Pocic stepped in, but he wasn't on the field for long. Pocic suffered a knee injury, which knocked him out of the game as well.
At that point, the Ravens were out of centers, so they had to reshuffle their offensive line to make things work. The team made the decision to have rookie Vega Ioane make the shift from right guard to center, but that move left a gaping hole at right guard that was eventually filled by Andrew Vorhees.
If the Ravens knew they were going to get Gwyn or Pocic back on the field this week, then the center problem would simply fix itself, because they would roll with one of those guys on Sunday against the Titans. However, they can't do that, because both guys are expected to be out for awhile, according to coach Jesse Minter.
"I don't have the full details, but they both look like they'll be a little bit long term," Minter said Monday, via the team's website.
With both players expected to be out "long term," that puts the Ravens in somewhat of a bind.
What the Ravens are now planning to do at center
After watching Ioane play a solid game against the Cowboys, it sounds like the Ravens are going to keep him at center, at least for this week's game against Tennessee.
"As we sort through making our roster better over the next couple of days, he'll prepare to play that position," Minter said. "We'll figure out the best five guys to put out there for this particular week. We may add a piece or two from losing a couple of guys."
Ioane, who was the 14th overall pick in the draft this year, was an All-America offensive lineman at Penn State, but he played less than 20 snaps at center during his four-year college career. Ioane did take a few practice snaps at center over the past few weeks, so he wasn't completely in the dark when he was for forced to play the position against Dallas.
"A big mindset from college too, our O-line coach was always talking about, 'Be ready for when your number's called,'" Ioane said follwing the win, via The Athletic. "It's unfortunate how it happened, but you just got to step up and be ready for the moment."
Putting Ioane at center this week is certainly a short-term solution, but that will still leave the Ravens looking for a longer-term fix to the problem.
Ravens' options going forward
The Ravens have a center for Week 4 in Ioane, but it will be interesting to see how they handle things going forward. If Ioane plays well, then they could keep him at center as long as they're comfortable with who they have at right guard. Vorhees would seem to have the upper-hand to play right guard, but the Ravens do also have Emery Jones Jr., who could potentially serve as the starter.
If the Ravens want to add a free agent, they could call Kevin Zeitler. The former Pro Bowl guard is open to playing this year, but only for a contender, according to Sports Illustrated. Not only do the Ravens meet that criteria, but Zeitler has a history with the team because he spent three seasons in Baltimore (2021-23).
Adding a guard in free agency would probably make a lot more sense than adding a center and that's mostly because there aren't really any quality centers available in free agency, or really, even to trade for.
It was a rough offseason for center depth: The Bears lost their starter (Drew Dalman) to retirement, the Chargers lost their starter (Tyler Biadasz) to a season-ending injury and the Lions lost their starter (Cade Mays) to a broken wrist that will likely sideline him until after Detroit's Week 6 bye. Basically, most teams likely won't be interested in parting ways with any center depth they have, which is why it would make more sense for the Ravens to sign a guard like Zeitler while keeping Ioane at center until either Gwyn or Pocic can return.
For Baltimore, the center position has been plagued by injuries this year. During training camp, they held a competition to see who would replace Tyler Linderbaum, who signed with the Raiders back in March. Danny Pinter appeared on track to win the job, but he tore his patellar tendon during camp, an injury that knocked him out for the season. At that point Gwyn ended up beating out Pocic for the starting job, but now they're both out, which leaves the Ravens with no experienced centers on the roster.
Baltimore did have center Corey Bullock in training camp, but he got released and although the team was hoping to stash him on their practice squad, he got claimed on waivers by the Panthers.
"Once we lost Danny, we were kind of down to two," Minter said. "You always want to have that third guy, particularly when one of the guys we were going to potentially keep on practice squad got claimed. Now, you're trying to create depth at that position. Credit to (Ioane). He went in there at a couple of critical moments of the game and our offense scored a go-ahead touchdown and obviously operating on that last drive."
Lamar Jackson is the star of the Ravens' offense, but right now, Baltimore needs to find someone who can snap him the ball. For this week, that will be Ioane, but it will be interesting to see what Minter decides to do going forward.
