With Lawrence Now in Cincy, Are Ravens Forced to Pick Vega at 14?

Over the weekend, the Cincinnati Bengals traded the upcoming 10^th overall pick to the New York Giants in exchange for Dexter Lawrence.

Now that this has happened, I don’t know if the Ravens can afford not to draft Olaivavega Ioane with their first pick in the draft.

The NFL nation was focused on the edge pertaining to big moves and big potential moves within the AFC North.  Cleveland has Myles Garrett.  Pittsburgh has T.J. Watt.  Baltimore had Maxx Crosby and then didn’t, so they took Trey Hendrickson from Cincinnati.  The Bengals spread the money they would’ve invested there around a bit, or so we thought.  In came Jonathan Allen, Boye Mafe, Bryan Cook and Kyle Dugger.  Pick 10 was thought to be another defensive player.  Well, now instead of having one of the top exterior pass rushers in the NFL in Hendrickson, they have one of the top interior pass rushers in the NFL… perhaps the very best.

How interesting that John Harbaugh’s new team struck this deal.  That’s another discussion…

A search online will give you plenty of data supporting Dexter’s claim at the top of the DT mountain, whether pressure rate, impact on versus off the field, or hardware.  It’s worth noting that he was banged up last season and it affected his production – so were Watt, Crosby and Hendrickson.  The move is still massive, and not something you’d expect from the Bengals.

This brings us back to the Ravens.  My personal opinion has been that “Vega” (Ioane) is the baseline pick.  He’s expected to be there at pick 14, and I share the opinion with way-more-informed draft people that he is the best offensive line prospect in this draft, irrespective of positional value.  If for whatever reason he is drafted before pick 14 (by like, oh I don’t know, the Giants at pick 10) that will push someone else down.  My fingers were crossed for Rueben Bain Jr.

My mood is shifting, and here’s why:  I don’t think Lamar Jackson finishes the 2026 season with the offensive line as is.

The Ravens have a penalty machine at LG now that John Simpson is returning.  His best season as a pro was in 2024 with the Jets, but he regressed to the mean the following year.  He has more often than not been a below average NFL starter, as he was last time he was in Baltimore.  He was someone who adequately plugged a hole in the line, but did nothing beyond that.  Now for the bad news: Simpson might be the second best offensive lineman on the team.

Let’s face it, Roger Rosengarten struggled while getting no help last season.  He looked bewildered at times, particularly in pass pro.  The question is, how much of that was on him, how much was on the big guy blocking next to him… and how much was on the old offensive line coach?  I believe the most important move the Ravens actually made this off season is in the coaching staff, from the top down.  The change at OL Coach is one of the biggest improvements, getting a coup from Atlanta in Dwayne Ledford.  Rosengarten is a Ledford-type lineman, ready to run outside zone.  I think – I think – Right Tackle will be fine.

It’s just that there’s a chasm between Simpson and Rosengarten, and the free agent options don’t look good.  You can tell me the Ravens should bring back Kevin Zeitler, but he’s going to be 36 and he’s not an outside zone-style OL to begin with.  As is, my hope is that the Ravens put Emery Jones there and he balls out, but that’s just as much an unknown as Jovaughn Gwyn is at C.  Or will it be Danny Pinter, who is going into his age 30 season having started a total of ten (10) NFL games?

Jackson’s tenure as running-QB-extraordinaire is coming to a close, and his tenure as something closer to a pure passer is approaching.  What Jackson will always be is a play extender.  There are still miles of NFL field for him to run behind the line of scrimmage, looking for the big play.  If you have no offensive line to speak of in front of him, the pass rush will close in on him, and even if he makes the spectacular play, he puts himself in harm’s way.  Most of the worst QB injuries that I know of over the years occurred while scrambling behind the line of scrimmage, and with Dexter Lawrence now on the Bengals, I can see it happening in Cincy.

That’s what I’m thinking now come Thursday night.  Run up the card with Ioane’s name on it, and for good measure draft one of the plug-and-play centers in round three, even if he won’t be an All Pro.

What if Ioane isn’t there though?  What if Harbs shanks the Ravens and takes him at pick 10?  I think you would then go OL twice on Friday night after taking whoever falls to 14.  There are three guards that stand out:  Keylan Rutledge of Georgia Tech, Emmanuel Pregnon of Oregon, and Chase Bisontis of Texas A&M.  It would be a sweat because there’s no guarantee any of them will be around by pick 45.

In the meantime, I have to imagine that the Cincinnati Bengals are back as the primary challenger for the AFC North division.  The Dexter trade was a major shot across the bow.

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/04/20/nfl-draft/lawrence-vega/