Last year, the Baltimore Ravens trotted out an offensive line that was unbearable to watch. Most notably, it was the horrific offensive guard duo that had them take major steps back, and to be honest, the rest of the front was also disappointing.
The Ravens made efforts to improve that area. They signed a familiar face in John Simpson and used their first-round pick on Vega Ioane. Unfortunately, they lost Tyler Linderbaum in free agency and have still yet to settle on a replacement. Talent-wise, the group might look better; however, there remains plenty of uncertainty.
And it shouldn’t be a surprise that Baltimore is entering 2026 near the bottom of the league in terms of offensive line rankings. In Sharp Football Analysis’ offensive line rankings for this season, they ranked 24th.
Clearly, they have a lot to figure out ahead of the regular season.
Baltimore Ravens’ offensive line might be on life support once again in 2026
The front office did an outstanding job of taking the offensive guard unit to another level. The issue is, the center spot is in position to take a massive step back, and even those improvements at guard aren’t necessarily a sure thing. Then, even the tackle spot could be unstable.
Simpson and Ioane should be miles better than Daniel Faalele and Andrew Vorhees proved to be. That’s not really that difficult, though. Those two were unbelievably bad, and although the new duo brings a boost, there are fair questions to ask about both Simpson and Ioane.
For Simpson, he’s been inconsistent across his career. Yes, he’s started 17 games in four of the last five seasons, but his play can be lackluster at times. The Ravens will need the version of Simpson that put together a solid showing during his first stint in Charm City in 2023.
As for Ioane, he was touted as one of the best guard prospects since Quenton Nelson, and while that’s extremely exciting, he’s also just a rookie. You can certainly expect some bumps along the road in his debut season. And with significant doubts at center, that could be distressing.
The Ravens will need that center, whoever it is, to hit the ground running. Whether it’s Danny Pinter, Jovaughn Gwyn, or someone not even on the roster right now, training camp and preseason will be a critical time to figure things out at that spot. Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry need stability there, and Ioane needs someone to help him make adjustments to the NFL level.
Finally, at tackle, Roger Rosengarten appears to be ready to take another leap in his third season. He’s pretty easily the best player the team has across their five-man front. The left tackle spot with Ronnie Stanley, though, is where concerns lie.
Stanley got back to a Pro Bowl level in 2024, but fell back on inconsistencies in 2025. Injuries have always been an issue, and with him now being 32 years old, some might wonder if he’s starting to hit a downward trajectory. He must prove he can fend off that regression curve.
The coming months will be very telling for this group. Under new offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford, who’s been praised as one of the best in the league, they should be able to take some strides. We’ll start to figure out how long those strides are in training camp and preseason, as the Ravens gear up for a pivotal 2026 campaign.
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