OTL: Minter Names Jovaughn Gwyn Starting Center…For Now

The topsy-turvy center competition has finally come to at least a temporary conclusion, and it’s the fourth-year man out of South Carolina, Jovaughn Gwyn, who will be snapping the ball to Lamar Jackson five days from now against the Indianapolis Colts.

A little bit of a bio on Gwyn: over his first two seasons he appeared in just two games before appearing in all 17 a season ago. He made no starts over his first three years in the league though, and Week 1 will mark the first start of his NFL career.

Gwyn came over from Atlanta with Ravens offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford. Ledford clearly saw something in Gwyn that intrigued him as a valuable piece to develop, and that process has now come to fruition.

Minter calls it a “Week 1 decision, not a permanent decision.” Notes that Ethan Pocic is still coming back from an Achilles injury, but says they are confident in Gwyn.
“He came in with a lot of experience w/Coach Ledford and some things schematically that carry over.” https://t.co/BAHzwS9VZe

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 7, 2026

When the Ravens initially signed Gwyn back in March on just a one-year $1.125 million contract, he was figured to be a fringe guy who would be fighting for his spot from the start of camp, to the end.

Gwyn quickly showed that wouldn’t be the case during OTAs, but even then he seemed to be more of a guard/center depth piece rather than a name to really watch in the starting center competition.

The signing of Ethan Pocic only continued to cloud the picture as a new competitor entered the ring. Pocic started at a bit of a disadvantage both because of last year’s injury and the need to learn the system at a much quicker pace, but many assumed that he would end up as the Week 1 starter.

Gwyn had a really strong showing in the first preseason game, and when Danny Pinter suffered a season-ending patellar tendon injury during joint practices in Minnesota the following week, the door opened.

Pinter seemed to have the starting job in his grasp, but after the injury, Gwyn continued to stack good days in camp, and put up two more solid preseason performances.

The leash may not be long for Gwyn with Pocic right behind him, but the 27-year old defied a lot of offseason odds to win the Week 1 starting center job with our Ravens.

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