Vega Ioane can't mask the chronic deficiencies with Ravens' pass protection

The Baltimore Ravens probably won’t figure it out in pass protection this year. Week 8 was especially brutal with Vega Ioane out, but his Week 9 return had things looking better on paper. It didn’t play out that way.

Even Ioane can’t save this offensive line. The Ravens didn’t pass much Thursday night, which was expected in Joe Fagnano’s debut. However, they still let an absurd pressure rate slip through. Pro Football Focus charged them with 13 pressures, four of which were unblocked.

Fagnano threw just 18 passes, and dropped back 21 times, per PFF. That’s good for an unheard-of 61.9% pressure rate by the Jacksonville Jaguars defensive line.

If you're a Ravens fan, you probably felt like Dwayne Ledford watching that performance.

Jacoby Brissett may be coming to Charm City; it doesn’t matter who's playing behind that offensive line, though. If it’s not a player with wizard-like escapability like Lamar Jackson, they don’t stand a chance.

Baltimore Ravens’ offensive line doesn’t look fixable in 2026

To be fair, the Ravens’ offense was put in an impossible situation on Thursday. Joe Fagnano made his first career start and rarely pushed the ball downfield. Declan Doyle didn’t give him much of a chance, but even in Fagnano’s 21 dropbacks, the Jaguars defense never respected his arm.

After the game, Vega Ioane spoke about what went wrong on offense.

"Consistency," Ioane said. "We as an offense, we just gotta keep building on it. Pre-snap penalties definitely a part of [the problem]. We just keep shooting ourselves in the foot. We can't win games if we do that."

It wasn’t a secret that Jacksonville was ready to make Fagnano feel the heat all night long. They were crowding the line off the rip. The issue was Baltimore’s offensive line didn’t even look capable of holding their own.

This was really the best version of the Ravens’ offensive line you’ll get all season. Ioane returning meant the team had their starting five on the field with Ronnie Stanley, John Simpson, Cam Jurgens, Vega Ioane, and Roger Rosengarten.

From what we saw, this past offseason’s offensive line rebuild looks like a failure.

Notably, the big issues came in the middle between John Simpson and Cam Jurgens. Jurgens didn’t look bad, but Baltimore’s communication and ability to pass off assignments at guard and center were troublesome.

Simpson also played downright horrendous football. He’s been doing it all year with 16 pressures allowed so far, and Jacksonville turned into a turnstile. He had his own Daniel Faalele moments throughout the night, whiffing on blocks and watching opposing defensive linemen take free shots at Fagnano.

With Fagnano playing with a wrapped-up ankle, everything looked so much worse. His mobility was limited, so the pass protection had to play well if the offense wanted any shot at playing competitive football. Instead, they continued an absolutely horrible stretch.

Maybe with more time to gel together, they play better down the stretch — the interior is brand new, and Ioane and Jurgens have looked solid. Unfortunately, it looks like the Ravens will have to go back to the drawing board this offseason. The way they’re currently playing, they’ll hold the team back every game.

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