Ravens' Jovaughn Gwyn Could Push For Starting Center Role

There was a belief that the Baltimore Ravens brought in center Ethan Pocic to take over as the team's starter for the 2026 season. However, that is not the case.

Ravens head coach Jesse Minter indicated that the center competition would be ongoing through to the start of the regular season, as the team needs to find the best option possible. That best option could very well be guard Jovaughn Gwyn.

Gwyn began taking snaps at center during OTAs and minicamp, alongside Danny Pinter. Corey Bullock had been dealing with an injury, while Pocic had not yet been signed by the team.

This trend carried through to the preseason opener, as Pinter and Gwyn took the brunt of snaps at center for the game. 

It was Gwyn who whined in a significant way, playing 51 snaps and picking up a second-highest offensive grade of 90.8, per Pro Football Focus. The Ravens lineman wasn't just the second-highest-rated player on the Baltimore offense, but he also earned the top spot on the PFF Week 1 team.

Head coach Jesse Minter was asked about Gwyn's performance in the preseason game, leading to him stating that Gwyn would definitely "get some opportunities."

"It's about how you play, and I thought he played really well. He'll continue to get some opportunities. I thought it was a really good showing for him, and kinda what I thought he would be, and it showed up on tape. Big week for that position, and I look forward for that competition continuing," Minter said.

Granted, Minter did not ouright say that Gwyn was in the lead of landing the starting center job, but the head coach did state that he is excited for the competition.

The Ravens are not resting on their laurels of just naming Pocic as the starter, and are instead allowing the competition to shake out in a significant way. 

There might also be a reality where Pinter gets the starting position as well, but that will be dependent on how he also does through the remainder of training camp.

Pinter played 15 snaps and had a 79.5 pass block grade, which is solid. Overall, his sample size may have been too small to truly judge. 

The usual case is that starters will come out for minimal snaps, and the backup will take over. That appeared to be the case for Ravens linemen, but Gwyn's performance cannot be ignored.

Baltimore needs a strong center to not only be the first contact on the offensive line but also to be the de facto leader to call out looks for the defensive line and get everyone set. Additionally, the center needs to help move the pile for the run game while also allowing Lamar Jackson the time to get his feet set to throw the ball.

This is why the center competition will go down to the wire, but Gwyn seems to be ahead in terms of game performance thus far. It will be interesting to see if the guard gets more snaps with the ones during joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings and into the second preseason matchup.