One Penn State Nittany Lion cracks Joel Klatt's top-10 list of offensive players available in the NFL Draft.
Joel Klatt has covered the best games in the best conference for the better part of the last half-decade. We can debate how bad Big Noon Kickoff is all day long, but what is true is that he gets the best of the best in the Big Ten every single week.
Because of that, when he talks, everyone listens. Or, at least they should.
Recently, he ranked the top-10 offensive players available in the 2026 NFL Draft. Surely, the 7-6 Nittany Lions don't have any representatives in that category. Wrong.
Penn State landed the ninth-best offensive player available, and whoever gets him is getting a bulldozer. Checking in at No. 9 is Penn State's guard Vega Ioane.
Ioane is projected to be a late first-round pick this year, and that will put him squarely on a contending team. The last mock draft had him going at pick No. 22 to the Los Angeles Chargers, who just let their starting guard walk today.
Here is what Klatt had to say about Penn State's best lineman:
"I think that he is the best interior offensive lineman in the draft. He is very athletic, the coaches raved about his work ethic, leadership, and his ability to do different things ... They would stand him up in that offense, they would have him in motion... he's athletic enough... his ability to move around is a huge asset for an NFL organization."
The ability to play different positions on the offensive line is truly a trump card in the NFL. If a guy, especially an interior lineman, is pigeon-holed to a side or a position, he becomes way less valuable on the open market.
On the contrary, a guy who can flip to either side and maybe even snap the football is so much more valuable and attractive to a team.
Another skill that flies under the radar is the ability to move and execute after movement. Identifying someone across the field that you need to hit with great technique and precision is hard enough; then, to execute it can be nearly impossible.
His having that under his belt makes him the best interior offensive linemen, and he is going to get set up nicely on a really good team.
Wherever he goes, he will be in the conversation to be a day one starter, and that will likely be the expectation for him, too.