One of the most important aspects of any great football team is a strong presence in the trenches. With this fact in mind, it’s no wonder that there are so many offensive linemen taken with high first-round picks in the NFL Draft every year. However, most of those linemen are tackles because it is imperative to protect the quarterback’s blind side.
If you are selected in the first round at all as a guard, it likely means that you’re one of the best interior prospects in years and have the ability to fortify the middle of a line for a long time. That is exactly the case with Penn State guard Olaivavega Ioane, who is expected to be taken in the middle of the first round at the lowest.
Ioane was named to the NCAA All-American team this past season, as well as earning All-Big Ten team honors in back-to-back seasons, making him a rare blue-chip prospect at the guard spot. His dominance hasn’t gone unnoticed by talent evaluators, with ESPN draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah placing him at No. 11 on his list of the top-50 2026 draft prospects.
Updated Top 50https://t.co/h5EiatMfZp
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) April 1, 2026
There is just one offensive lineman rated above Ioane, Miami Hurricanes tackle Francis Mauigoa, making the former one of the best guards we’ve seen in a while. One of the best pass blockers in the nation, Ioane took 1,165 pass-blocking snaps in his college career, allowing just 35 pressures, good for a three-percent pressure rate, and just three sacks.
Along with his dominant pass blocking, he proved to be quite versatile, taking some reps at right guard and tackle during his time with the Nittany Lions. There are few linemen in the league that can match Ioane’s strength and prowess as a pass-protector, so it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see him taken in the top half of the first round. The draft is in exactly three weeks, so let’s see just how high he can climb on these lists.
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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Where Vega Ioane lands on ESPN’s top-50 2026 NFL Draft prospect list
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