Why Olaivavega Ioane is the ultimate helper in the 2026 NFL Draft

The final score was 38-14.

Penn State had just lost their fifth game of the 2025 college football season on the road to Ohio State, their fifth Big Ten loss in a row. Head coach James Franklin had already been dismissed, and the heckling fans at The Horseshoe were serenading the visitors with chants of “0-and-5” as the players made their way to the locker room.

That’s when this happened:

It is just one moment in time, but it speaks volumes about Penn State draft prospect Olaivavega Ioane.

And the player he will be at the next level.

Between the lines, there is a lot to love about Ioane’s game, and several traits you can point to when making the case he will be the first interior offensive lineman taken in the 2026 NFL Draft, and perhaps stands out as the best offensive line prospect overall. Lance Zierlein at NFL.com called him a “[p]rototypical guard for physical run schemes with thick limbs, a broad frame and plus core strength.” Bleacher Report’s Brandon Thorn, one of the preeminent experts on offensive line play, wrote that “his patience, balance and power profile project to an early NFL starter who can control the pocket inside and become a tone-setter in a downhill or balanced run scheme.” At The Ringer, Todd McShay declared that Ioane “is the best offensive line prospect in this class, and he is arguably the best guard prospect since 2018 sixth pick Quenton Nelson. He’s a top 10 player overall, but positional value could cause him to fall into the teens.”

Those opinions are shared by the greater scouting community. When we asked NFL fans about the players they loved in the 2026 NFL Draft class, Ioane was one of the more common responses:

Let’s dive into some of those traits, starting with that clip of Ioane in motion.

Yes, this is certainly fun to see, and a demonstration of his power on the field, but he will not always be put in motion when he gets to the NFL.

Which is why moments like this are critical for his evaluation:

This is a short-yardage play against Nebraska on the goal line, and Ioane is tasked with handling the defensive tackle across from his left guard alignment in a one-on-one situation. Penn State is running right behind Ioane on this gap design, and the left guard bullies his assignment away from the play, and into the turf.

Here is another key interior block on a power design, coming on the inside against Michigan State:

Take this play against Ohio State, where he gets to the nose tackle right after the snap and controls him right at the point of attack:

Some of his best work in the run game comes with him on the move as a puller, as he is on this play against Northwestern. Watch him dip around the right edge, identify the crashing downhill threat, and rock that defender back off the line to spring a big run:

Plays like these also help Ioane address the athleticism question, which is perhaps the one area of debate in his draft profile. But when you see him on the move like he is here against Nebraska, getting into space and taking on a safety downfield, you start to see that part of his game come to life:

And that athleticism does help him on zone-blocking assignments. While he might be best suited — or ideally suited — for a gap-heavy offense, there are flashes of Ioane standing out on both inside zone and outside zone run plays. And part of Ioane’s evaluation should note that Penn State ran more gap/power designs, so there are not as many examples of him executing zone blocks

But there are examples, such as this 53-yard run where Ioane climbs to the second level and cuts off the angle from the Rutgers linebacker:

Or on this snap against UCLA, where he has to execute a “reach” block on a defensive tackle to his outside. Watch as Ioane’s footwork gives him the angle, and from there he seals off the defender to create a rushing lane:

Of course, life for a lineman in the NFL means lots of pass-blocking snaps. Ioane’s footwork and ability to anchor stand out here as well. On this play against Rutgers, watch as he mirrors an inside move from his defender, sliding his feet before anchoring on a third-down play:

Here is that ability to anchor again, on a snap against the national champions:

Finally, here is a great example of Ioane working until late in the play, anchoring and re-anchoring on this pass against Oregon:

These are the traits, and the examples, that have so many in the scouting community high on the Penn State interior offensive lineman.

But as you all know, there is more to the draft evaluation than some clips pulled from watching games.

There is the player himself.

That brings us back to where we began, and a 38-14 loss to Ohio State midway through the college football season. It was a dark moment in a season filled with them for Penn State, and the jeers that rained down on Ioane and his teammates were sadly the norm for the Nittany Lions a year ago.

Even in that moment, Ioane found a way to help a teammate.

“Simple as one of my teammates, just a different version,” Ioane said after the Ohio State game. “A lot of people, who are outside the building, don’t know that we don’t run without them guys like that. We can’t practice without them. We can’t go to games without them. Just as simple as helping out our teammate.”

The moment went viral, as you can tell, with more than 100K likes on X alone. But when asked more about that moment, Ioane deflected the credit elsewhere.

“My mom was a little emotional about it, but very proud. So was my dad,” Ioane said. “They never thought their son would go viral for something like that, but a pretty cool moment for my parents to see. A little bit of the outcome that was their hard work.”

He also returned to the idea of helping others, especially in difficult times.

“It’s a big part of us moving forward,” Ioane said. “Like I said, we don’t move without them, so same thing as them, they can’t move without us. We got to be all in it together as a family. That’s what we are, because you got to keep going together.”

And it is this component of his evaluation that might just stand out above all.

Because when you get right down to it, the job of an offensive lineman is to help. To help secure rushing lanes for your running backs, to help keep you quarterback clean in the pocket. To get tough, get dirty, and find a way to get the job done.

Even in the darkest moments.

Ioane’s play on the field is what will make him a first-round pick.

But it is what he showed in that moment at Ohio State that will make him something even better in the NFL.

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