Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1544665
3 8 M A Y 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M F or the third year in a row, Penn State had a player chosen on Day 1 of the NFL Draft, with guard Olaivavega Ioane going 14th overall to the Baltimore Ravens. Last year, defensive end Abdul Carter and tight end Tyler Warren were chosen within the first 14 picks. A year earlier, offensive tackle Olumuyiwa Fashanu and defensive end Chop Robinson were picked within the first 21. Penn State is now one of only three programs — LSU and USC are the others — to have had at least one player selected in the first three rounds of the draft for the past 21 years. Ioane headlined an eight-man draft contingent for the Nittany Lions. He was followed by quarterback Drew Allar in the third round, offensive tackle Drew Shelton and defensive end Dani Dennis- Sutton in the fourth, safety Zakee Wheat- ley, running back Nicholas Singleton and defensive tackle Zane Durant in the fifth, and running back Kaytron Allen in the sixth. It was the third time since 2022 that the Lions have had eight players drafted. Here's a look at where Penn State's newest NFL players are headed following the draft, which took place April 23-25 in Pittsburgh. Olaivavega Ioane | G TEAM Baltimore Ravens ROUND First PICK 14th overall As expected, Ioane became the first Nittany Lion off the board when the Ra- vens took him in the middle of the first round. The Graham, Wash., native started 32 games at Penn State, all at left guard. He didn't give up a sack and allowed only 2 pressures on 294 pass-blocking snaps as a redshirt junior last fall, earning first- team All-America notice from CBS Sports and On3, along with second-team nods from The Athletic, Walter Camp and the Football Writers Association of America. The consensus among draft analysts was that Baltimore deserved high marks for using its first pick on a player who fig- ures to bolster its offensive line for years to come, opening running room for Der- rick Henry while providing reliable pro- tection for quarterback Lamar Jackson. "I love this pick," gushed ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. "Ioane is a 6-foot-4, 320-pound blocker with light feet and immense strength, and he refuses to give up sacks. He hasn't given up one since 2023. Bal- timore wasn't able to keep center Tyler Linderbaum, and though it signed John Simpson to play one guard spot, it needed to upgrade the other one in a big way. Io- ane is a safe, high-floor prospect who is going to boost this unit and open some ELITE EIGHT First-rounder Olaivavega Ioane headlines the Nittany Lions' 2026 NFL Draft octet G R E G P I C K E L | G R E G . P I C K E L @ O N 3 . C O M Baltimore Ravens GM Eric DeCosta (left) and new head coach Jesse Minter (right) were thrilled to be able to land Ioane with the 14th overall pick in this year's draft. PHOTO COURTESY BALTIMORE RAVENS