Frame
Pros:
•32 ¾ arm length at guard is decent
•Big hands
•Good weight at 320lbs
•31 ½ vertical at his size is impressive
Cons:
•Can still get long-armed by longer defenders
Athleticism
Pros:
•Good flexibility in his lower back
•Got used on motions to pull and lay blocks
•Decent athlete
Cons:
•Short-area quickness is severely lacking
•Not an elite athlete
Footwork
Pros:
•Keeps a great, strong base
•Drives through the play to make up for mistakes rather than trying to slow them down, which isn’t necessarily a plus
•Good balance
Cons:
•Doesn’t recover that well
Hand Usage
Pros:
•Exceptional independent hand movement
•Has a very strong initial punch
•Can redirect interior defenders out of the pocket with his punches and leverage
•Relentless hands that continue to come out at defenders after being knocked away
•Overall, hand placement is okay
•Easily punches away interior linemen and moves them to the outside to be passed along
•Great grip strength
Cons:
•He doesn’t really have an arm bar
•Lacks an arm bar, which results in him struggling to recover from mistakes on initial contact
•Can get long-armed by longer defenders if his timing isn’t right
•On pulls, he occasionally hits with his shoulder or arm for some reason
Strength / Anchor
Pros:
•Seals off defenders well
•Anchors down in pass protection well
•Very effective on combo blocks in both zone and gap runs
•Plays with good leverage, pad level, and stays balanced
•Absorbs power extremely well and can redirect right after absorbing
•Relentless leg drive to drive defenders to the ground
•Really solid on angle blocks to wash defenders out of the play
•Strong hip torque to throw defenders down
•Reaches defenders on pulls and can hook them
•Opens up massive holes
Cons:
•Can get pried open if he takes a bad angle
Physicality
Pros:
•Has finishing ability and can put you in the ground
•Plays to and through the whistle
•Plays with swagger
•Racks up pancakes
•Willing to push the pile
•Tons of physicality at the POA
Cons:
•None
Processing / Game IQ
Pros:
•Only had 1 penalty all season
•Eyes are always moving around when he isn’t covered or after he passes a defender
Cons:
•Late to his assignments way too often and gets confused
•Can react too late every now and then
•Eyes just miss stuff sometimes when looking for second-level defenders to pick up
Games Watched:
•Week 4 vs ORE, Week 5 vs UCLA, Week 6 vs NU, Week 8 vs OSU
Ideal Situation:
•Olaivavega Ioane is easily one of my favorite players in this class, and it only makes me believe the Dolphins have one of the worst front offices in the league for passing on him in favor of Kadyn Proctor. Ioane was selected 14th overall in the 2025 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens, and I can’t think of a better pairing. The Ravens lost their o-line captain, Tyler Linderbaum, who signed a massive deal with the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason. There isn’t much to be said about Vega Ioane that hasn’t already been said. Ioane’s footwork, hand usage, strength at the point of attack, ability to anchor down, and, of course, his physicality are all borderline elite or very much elite. Even his weaknesses are at a relatively average to above-average level. His frame isn’t anything to write home about, but it is definitely manageable. His athleticism isn’t all that great, but it is still okay. While he sometimes doesn’t get his head around things in time and is late to get to his second-level assignment, he is still decent. Vega Ioane will be the starter on Day 1, and I think he will be a Pro Bowl-caliber player early in his career.
Rating:
•Frame – 7.7/10
•Athleticism – 7.0/10
•Footwork – 9.1/10
•Hand Usage – 9.1/10
•Strength / Anchor – 9.8/10
•Physicality – 9.4/10
•Processing / Game IQ – 7.1/10
Total = 86.9/100 Mid 1st Round
DraftedR1 • P14Baltimore Ravens