If the Los Angeles Chargers have the chance to nab Olaivavega Ioane on draft night, they can't act fast enough.
Although they've made some additions to their offensive line this offseason, Cole Strange and Trevor Penning would be their starting guards if the season were to begin today. After last season's failures, that's an unacceptable outcome.
Ioane, for his part, is the premier guard in this draft class. Across 11 games in his junior season at Penn State, Ioane allowed zero sacks and just four pressures on 311 pass-blocking snaps. He didn't test off the charts at the Combine, but he has the fundamental stability and the athletic tools to be a day-one starter in the NFL.
From the beginning of the mock draft process, Ioane has been seen as the ideal pick for the Chargers. But as offensive-line needs for teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, and even the Detroit Lions have arisen, it's become clear Los Angeles will have competition.
There's still a chance, though. FanSided's recent Big Board for the 2026 NFL Draft, which features insight from experts on all 32 teams on their teams' biggest draft needs, illuminates a path.
Based on these experts' rankings, Ioane is not the top prospect on the board for any of the teams that could claim him before Los Angeles gets their shot. If things fall the right way, the Chargers might still have a shot at their ideal prospect.
Rival teams' immediate needs could open up a route to Olaivavega Ioane
Of course the most likely scenario is that Ioane is selected somewhere in the 15-19 range in the Draft. But with the plethora of guards projected to be available in the second round, there's always a chance those teams choose to attack more immediate needs with their first-round selections.
Baltimore Ravens expert Connor Burke has wide receiver Jordyn Tyson as their ideal selection at 14th overall. Although guard remains a glaring need for them, there remains a chance that they're enamored with one of the top two receivers in their draft range, Tyson or Makai Lemon, which could entice them to chase that position in the first and try to nab a starting-caliber guard in the second round.
The Steelers need offensive line help as well, and Ioane has been mocked to them throughout the pre-draft cycle. But expert Tommy Jaggi has Ioane fourth on their board, placing Lemon, Tyson, and offensive tackle Spencer Fano ahead of him.
The Jets are trickier to project because their 16th-overall selection depends so heavily on where they go at second overall. Ioane is fourth on their board, but if they're grab a premier defender such as Arvell Reese or David Bailey at the top of the round, it's possible they'd go for an offensive weapon with their second selection.
Although Ioane has also been mocked to the Eagles and Lions, he doesn't even crack the top-five prospects on their individual boards.
In short, each of the teams that have been projected to select Ioane ahead of the Chargers have more immediate needs that could force them to go in different directions. Things would need to break the right way, but there's still a path for Ioane to wind up with Los Angeles on draft night.
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