G VEGA IOANE AND OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR DECLAN DOYLE
Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle Opening Statement: "I'll open it up. I'll be pretty quick here. Obviously, [we are] super excited to get Vega [Ioane] in here and be able to welcome him and his family to the Ravens family. And what was really clear – obviously we get to spend time with a lot of different prospects in this process, but when he got to come in here, and we got to spend some time with him, it was very clear that he was a Raven. And what that meant – what that means to us is really that he embodies the ideas, the values and all the things that we're looking to put into place here with [head coach] Jesse [Minter] in the new regime. It was very clear to us that he would make a great addition to the roster and be able to come in here. He's a humble guy that competes; he shows it all over the tape. I'm certainly very excited to be able to coach him and have him join us on this journey here. Any questions for either of us?"
Welcome to Baltimore. We sort of asked you yesterday a little bit, but how much – because you'll be blocking in front of QB Lamar Jackson – how much have you kind of admired him from afar? And, now it's been a day since you've been drafted, have you kind of thought about the possibility of blocking for him as well? (Jamison Hensley)
(IOANE) "Oh man, I've thought about it a lot. [Lamar Jackson's] name is a big name around the game. He's been around the game for a little while now. He's a very talented player – a phenomenal player. It's going to be a big honor for me and a blessing for me to block for someone like that. So, I am taking a lot of pride in that."
In that, executive vice president and general manager Eric DeCosta brought up the former Baltimore Ravens DT Haloti Ngata comparison, you said you've heard that before. I am curious, how familiar are you with him? And what does that kind of mean to you when you hear that? (Brian Wacker)
(IOANE) "I'm familiar with [Haloti Ngata's] game; I heard his name growing up. [If you] watched a little bit of ball, his name was always around. But being compared to somebody like that, it's not something to take lightly. He's a great player. He's done a lot for the game himself. So, to be compared to somebody like that means a lot to me."
Have you been able to kind of catch up to how fast paced it's probably been for you over the last 12 hours or so? (Cordell Woodland)
(IOANE) "Not really. [It was] a long day yesterday. I got about four hours of sleep last night, and now we're here. All of it is a blessing. God has a plan for all of us, [this is] just a part of it. I am not taking it lightly, but it's part of the process."
How much do you know about the Ravens? I know you've been asked a bunch of questions, but how familiar are you? And how much have you followed the team growing up? (Jerry Coleman)
(IOANE) "I know the basics. There's a lot of history and lot of legends that have come through here – a lot of big names. A lot of legends that have left a big part of themselves in this facility [and] a lot of this game. So, it means a lot to me that I'm here now."
Something that head coach Jesse Minter mentioned last night is that G Vega Ioane is really scheme-versatile, he can fit in multiple different schemes. How big of a factor was that during the evaluation process that made you want to try to get him? (Garrett Downing)
(DOYLE) "That's a huge factor. Obviously, the versatility that [Vega Ioane] has in his game, it allows you on offense to be very multiple. Really, he can do a lot of different things. And you always want to be building the scheme around the player. And because of his unique skillset, it allows you to be able to try to stress defenses in a lot of different ways."
We heard a little bit about it, but what was offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford like to be around last night when the pick came in? How much did he push for this player? (Jeff Zrebiec)
(DOYLE) "So, you got to see the video of [executive vice president] Eric [DeCosta] being able to talk and [head coach] Jesse [Minter] being able to talk. You couldn't see [offensive line] Coach 'Led' [Dwayne Ledford] walk into the room and just jumping out of his seat, like ready to explode. Coach Ledford was so fired up from the very beginning. We really identified Vega [Ioane] as a guy that we really felt like would add to our offense. And he's been beating that drum for weeks now. For it to be able to come to fruition and [for] him to be sitting there [on the draft board] when we were picking, it was really just awesome for all sides."
And can you talk about your relationship already that you're starting to build with Coach Dwayne Ledford? And I know he was working you out at your pro day, can you talk about kind of how that all went? (Ryan Mink)
(IOANE) "That was the first time I met [offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford]. He was explaining the drills and then I had a rep. I'm up taking a knee about to run outside zone and he goes, 'I'm going to hold a bag.' I was like, 'Alright, I'm going to use that to my advantage. I'm trying to push him on his ass a little bit.' And then after the entire – when we were done with pro day – he comes up, he's like, 'You almost put me on my ass.' I was trying to play it off like I didn't know I was trying to do that. But that's my guy, but this is just how the game works."
There's always going to be some people who say, "How do you take a guard in the first round? Why don't you take a pass rusher or what have you?" What, if anything, would you say to those people? (Childs Walker)
(IOANE) "There is 11 people on the field at the same time. You're missing one, you can't play a game of football. You can't play real football without O-linemen. And if you don't have a complete five – there's five people in front that play as one. There's a lot of pride that needs to be taken upon that. So for me, getting picked in the first round to play as a guard, I take a lot of pride in that coming in. I'm trying to make a big impact, playing as a guard, just proving them wrong."
After you heard your name called and got drafted, what is kind of the coolest and most memorable thing that happened since? Was it a moment you shared with your family? Was it a phone call you got? What would you say was the one thing that really stuck out since you got drafted? (Jeff Zrebiec)
(IOANE) "I'd say [there were] two big moments. When I put the hat on my dad, he didn't take it off for the next two hours. He left the hat on the entire time. After that, we took a picture as a whole family. I have eight siblings. I'm the ninth and the youngest one. We're all standing there [for the photo], [with] nice little view in the back. It's my entire family. That's my whole reason of [me] being here, making it this far. Those people are my why. Like I said before, I did this for them, and seeing that come to fruition, like you said, that's a big part to me."
As you're growing up and developing, and with the possibility of being an NFL player comes into focus, who were some offensive linemen and some players that maybe you watched, you studied, that you modeled yourself after that made an impression on you? (Luke Jones)
(IOANE) "I was a big Quenton Nelson fan. I watched a lot of his film, and a lot of Zion Johnson film. I'd say Peter [Skoronski] from the Titans as well. I [watched] a lot of those films and Trent Williams; I watched a lot of his film as well. I know he's a tackle, but he plays really well."
I know you were a rugby player growing up predominantly. When was it that you kind of fell in love with football? Can you tell us the story or the moment that you kind of realized it? (Ryan Mink)
(IOANE) "I watched a lot of football growing up. My older brothers, they play football, in high school and all that. I was a young kid watching them play on the islands [of American Samoa], and I didn't really ... Not much came from that with them, but from then on, I knew the game was a big part of our family, our culture, things like that. I came to Washington state, and my mom said no football, no nothing like that, and [that I need to] focus on school. She's right here, but she loves football now, and that's all that matters to me."
When head coach Jesse Minter said yesterday that you guys still don't really know yet how the guard configuration's going to work out. What does that figuring out process look like to you? (Jonas Shaffer)
(DOYLE) "Really, with the offensive line always, it's how do we get our five best on the field? Obviously, [Vega Ioane] has a lot of versatility and that allows us to really go out and try to explore that through the offseason, through training camp. Then, really make it a competitive environment that our guys are able to kind of showcase their skillsets where we think they're going to fit our offense best and be able to make that decision later on into camp. But certainly, guys like this that have a lot of different – they've played a lot of different places – I've seen him flexed out as a tight end, at times, and slicing back and knocking out and end on the other side. And so, guys like that allow you to really explore what is the best fit for our best five [offensive linemen]."
Have you found that guys earlier in their career are typically more flexible when it comes to moving from the left side to the right side and vice versa? (Jonas Shaffer)
(DOYLE) "I would say, yes. [It's] just muscle memory for anybody. The more reps you take on anything, the more comfortable you get there. And so really a transition time like this where [Vega Ioane]'s coming from college to pro, it's a really good time to make that change if you're moving around."
One of the stats that kind I found out is that G Vega Ioane hasn't allowed a sack the last two years at Penn State. In watching him, what makes him so good as a pass protector? (Jamison Hensley)
(DOYLE) "Reactive athleticism is a very, very strong trait. [Vega Ioane]'s great with his hands. He does a great job of starting the fight in the rush [game]. I think there's a lot of different reasons that that stat comes out. It's not one area of his game. There's a lot of areas of his game where he does a great job of controlling the depth of the pocket and being able to handle [opponents] whether that's a guy playing outside of him or a guy playing in the 'A gap.' He does a great job in protection."
When you got the call and heard it was the Ravens, what was the first thing that came to mind? And since then, have you had any current Ravens reach out to you? (Giana Han)
(IOANE) "No current Ravens have reached out yet. I'm expecting it, but I was talking to [executive vice president and general manager] 'EDC' [Eric DeCosta] before I left, and he goes, like right before I'm walking out of the building, he goes, 'When you get that call with that [410] area code, you know what's going to be us.' My phone's sitting there. I see the area code pop up. I just felt a whole feeling of relief. Everything just flushed out, and I relaxed a little bit, knowing that moment was everything that I've been working for. I got the call, answered it. I said, 'What's up, big dog? We're ready to go,' and things like that. But I'm really happy that I'm here now."
I was reading that you dropped about 20 pounds going into a season a year or two ago. What did that do for your game? And do you consider maybe your athleticism as well as your physical strength to be one of your strengths? (Cliff Brown)
(IOANE) "For me, it definitely improved my level of play. I felt like I was moving a lot quicker coming off the ball more, [and I was] just being lighter. But the whole losing weight thing, it was more of just a 'me' decision. After my junior season, I was like, let me see what 325 feels like. Personally, I didn't feel like I lost any power or anything like that, but my offensive line coach was saying that I'm moving a lot better [and] just playing ball better."
I know you said you grew up obviously watching your older brothers play. What's your earliest general football memory and what kind of appealed to you? (Brian Wacker)
(IOANE) "I'd say 10th grade. I got my first start on varsity. I'm playing left tackle, and we're playing a team from Oregon. [One of their players] is like 6-foot-7. I've never seen somebody that big. He's coming off the ball, and he beats me off the edge, and I'm grabbing him, and I'm pulling it back as he's beating me off the edge. I had no idea what I was doing, but got a flag called on me, but that's how it was."
There's an interview where you said you learned pretty quick how to be physical when going up against Penn State defensive linemen and pass rushers. Was OLB Adisa Isaac of them? What is it like to be teammates with him? (Giana Han)
(IOANE) "Adisa Isaac back then, we had crazy different packages on defense, and I was like a '2' at the time. And he's lined up at the '4i,' and his 'get off' is insane. He was an athlete back then, and he still is now. His hand grip, I remember punching him one time, and he grabs my hand with barely any effort into it and just rips it off of him. He beats me off of that, and I get ripped by my offensive line coach. So, that's how I was going against him."
There was a story when you were in college about how you used to print out pictures and sticky notes of guys on other teams and put them on your bedroom wall just to remind you. Where did that start? Where did that come from? How did that help? And is that something you might try to do in the NFL? (Sam Cohn)
(IOANE) "For me, it was a lot of changing my process of how I get ready for a game. That started late in my junior season. It was more of a thing [about] reminding me that that's the goal of the entire week. Reminding myself that these are the guys I'm going against, [and I'm] drilling in my head on what they do, how they play and things like that. But it's all part of the process of getting ready for the next game."
People who review your film have talked about just the consistency of the pass block reps, the efficiency of the movement, the lack of penalties, all that kind of stuff. When did you and how did you sort of become that technician? (Childs Walker)
(IOANE) "It's a big shoutout to my offensive line coach [Phil Trautwein]. That was one thing he harped on a lot was being detailed as an offensive lineman. It was either being detailed in the meeting room or out on the field. It's all about focusing on technique stuff and getting your hands here rather than there, and getting your foot in there in the run game. But, I focus a lot on the little details rather than the big thing."
Can you take us through the process of getting your suit and what it means to you? (Jonas Shaffer)
(IOANE) "I just wanted to keep it simple. The lapel is just part of our culture. I had to get a little bit of tribal on there. Nothing much to it."
Yesterday you talked about how you flipped that switch from off the field to on the field and said it took you a while to kind of perfect that. Was that kind of ramping yourself up into that intensity and that mindset? Can you talk about that process of kind of building that flip of the switch? (Ryan Mink)
(IOANE) "For me, pre-game, I'm going in calm. You can't do anything full speed when you're all antsy and things like that. So, I'm all calm before the game. But, as soon as the game starts, I'm a different person; I'm trying to kill somebody [on the field]. But, it's all [about] staying calm. And then when you see me play on the field, it's calm as well. But the mentality of just talking smack and things like that, I'm confident in my preparation, knowing what's going on before it happens. And that's why I play like that."
I talked to your old quarterback, Josh. He told me about the story about you guys playing that game against Collins Hill and the bus being surrounded and you standing up and saying, "I've got this," and taking everybody off. What do you remember about that moment? What kind of prompted you to be the guy in that situation? (Brian Wacker)
(IOANE) "There was not much to it. I was just showing up and being the guy that does the things that nobody else wants to do. I take a lot of pride in that. I was one of those guys that everybody looked up to, but I'm never a guy that speaks before things need to be said. But when things need to be said, I'll definitely be the guy to do it."
If somebody asked you what's the best and the worst part of growing up being the youngest of nine children, what would you say? (Cliff Brown)
(IOANE) "Excuse my language, but they used to beat my ass all the time. That's how bad it got. They roughed me up a little bit growing up, but that's just how the household was. Like I said, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them."
Are you the biggest sibling now? (Childs Walker)
(IOANE) "No. I have brothers that are bigger than me."
