The Baltimore Ravens are still without a starting center, which could be due to the team potentially converting an inside lineman from the draft into the position.
Despite bringing in Danny Pinter, Jovaughn Gywn, and John Simpson, the Baltimore Ravens are still without a starting center. The team did bring back Corey Bullock, who served as the direct backup to Tyler Linderbaum in 2025, but he still has limited starts in the center position.
The higher-rated free agent center targets have also signed with other teams, leaving the Ravens to likely draft a starter, or they could be angling to convert a first-round pick offensive lineman to a center.
There seems to be a consensus that the Ravens will more than likely pick a lineman at No. 14 overall. While general manager Eric DeCosta often picks the best available player at any given pick, the time is now to move away from that strategy.
Baltimore lost some strong starters via free agency but none more important than Linderbaum. He is now with the Las Vegas Raiders and will presumably protect Fernando Mendoza, who is the presumed No. 1 overall pick.
That said, the Ravens are now in a precarious position, but they could be looking to convert a college lineman to the center position.
Two players are continually mocked to the Ravens: Utah's Specer Fano and Penn State's Vega Ioane.
Both would make sense to pick at No. 14, period. However, the Ravens might also be falling back on the idea of converting either to the center position. Of the two, Ioane is the only one with practical center play, though it was limited.
During the 2024 season, Ionae played two snaps at center during Week 2 against Bowl Green, and 15 snaps at center in Week 4 against Kent State.
Having just 17 snaps at center wouldn't exactly qualify him as having viable center experience. He is the consensus top guard in the draft, so that could account for something, especially if the Ravens can try to convert him slowly, but they need someone now.
If Ioane is also there at No. 14, Baltimore may use him in place of Daniel Faalele, who is now a free agent, or Andrew Vorhees, who struggled mightily in 2025. Having a solid guard is needed, even though Simpson was brought in to act as competition and potentially be given one of those spots.
Fano is also a strong prospect that may land with the Ravens at No. 14 overall, and NFL insider Todd McShay believes he could be converted to center.
In his mock draft, the Ravens take Fano at No. 14 and a fallback option could be to use him at center.
"For Baltimore, a pretty great fallback would be converting Fano to center (following Tyler Linderbaum’s departure), where I think he’d be elite," McShay wrote.
McShay believes that Fano could be an elite center, but he has primarily played at the right tackle position. It is not often that outside linemen are converted to inside linemen, due to a number of factors like arm length, strength, and more.
Fano may be the consensus top tackle, but pushing him inside, especially to the center position, might not work out. It is not impossible for this to happen, but the fact that he has not played much at guard might be a bit of a red flag.
Whatever the Ravens plan to do, they need to find a starting center. They may choose to wait it out and take Auburn's Connor Lew, or Kansas State's Sam Hecht, but that would not happen until later rounds.