5 Guards With Zero Sacks Allowed Are Available In The 2026 Draft

GM Mike Borgonzi spent March reinforcing the defensive front, trading for edge rusher Jermaine Johnson, signing John Franklin-Myers, adding Jordan Elliott inside. Then he flew to Indianapolis and told reporters exactly what he thought of Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. “Any time you can get a running back like that, especially a three-down running back, that can play in the pass game as well,” Borgonzi said, “I think this guy in the draft, Jeremiyah does that as well.” Love ran an official 4.36-second 40-yard dash, rushed for 1,372 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns in his final collegiate season, and ESPN analysts Jordan Reid and Matt Miller both named him the top overall prospect in the class. A front office that spent free agency hardening the defense is now openly debating spending pick four on an offensive skill player. Meanwhile, Ward’s line remains exactly what it was when he took those 55 sacks.

The Guard Room Tennessee Is Handing Ward

Kevin Zeitler, the only reliable guard on the roster last season, is still unsigned as of late March, with multiple teams showing interest. Cordell Volson, signed this month on a one-year deal, missed all of 2025 with a shoulder injury. He never lived up to expectations as a starter in Cincinnati, and there is no reason to believe a return from shoulder surgery fixes that. That is what Brian Daboll inherits as he installs his tempo and play-action offense: a guard room built around a player who may sign elsewhere and another who is recovering from surgery with an unimpressive track record when healthy. The 2026 draft has five guards who finished last season without allowing a sack. All five are available. Tennessee needs one.

Tennessee Picks Fourth. The Guard Question Gets Answered at 35

The fourth overall pick does not go to an interior lineman. That spot belongs to a difference-maker, Love, a pass-rusher, whoever sits highest on the board. The guard decision lives at pick 35, Tennessee’s second-round selection. Historical draft data show that interior offensive linemen are among the most efficient investments at the Day 2 price; teams consistently find starting-caliber guards in rounds 2 and 3 at a fraction of the cost of premium picks. ESPN’s Field Yates specifically mocked Georgia Tech’s Keylan Rutledge to the Titans at that spot. Four of the five guards in this piece are expected off the board in the first two days. Take the best player at four. Come back at 35 and fix the line. The window doesn’t stay open.

1. Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State — The One Who Won’t Be There If Tennessee Waits

Penn State ran the ball at will in 2025. Game after game, Ioane drove defensive linemen out of gaps and opened lanes that had no business existing against Big Ten competition. He did not allow a sack all season. He ranks among the top prospects on Daniel Jeremiah’s overall big board, and ESPN’s Matt Miller, Jordan Reid, and Field Yates all ranked him the number one guard in the class. Scouting reports describe him as a prototypical guard for physical run schemes — thick limbs, broad frame, plus core strength, who projects as an early starter with a high floor. Teams picking in the mid-teens already have his name circled as a first-round target. If Tennessee spends pick four on Love and assumes Ioane waits at 35, they are making a very expensive assumption.

2. Emmanuel Pregnon, Oregon — Three Schools, Five Years, Zero Sacks at Every Stop

Pregnon was lightly recruited out of high school, signing with Wyoming in 2020 before finding his footing as a starter. He transferred to USC, where he made 13 starts at left guard across two seasons and did not allow a single sack. He transferred again to Oregon for his final year, became the best guard in the country, and did not allow a sack there either. An 88.4 PFF overall grade, highest among all guards in the nation in 2025. First Team All-American. First Team All-Big Ten. At 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds, he impressed at the combine with his athleticism for his size. The one thing scouts keep writing is that they want more nastiness — the technique is immaculate, but the edge isn’t always visible. That note drops him a round. For the team that picks him at 35, that note is the reason he’s still available.

3. Keylan Rutledge, Georgia Tech — His Foot Almost Didn’t Make It. Neither Did Anyone Who Tried to Beat Him.

There is a moment after a car accident, after the rolling stops and the glass settles, where you take inventory of what still works. For Keylan Rutledge in December 2023, the answer was: not much. His SUV had rolled multiple times. His left toe was shattered. Surgeons put a pin in it. Then came the infection. Then the second surgery. Then the conversation was about whether the foot could be saved at all. He was back in a Georgia Tech uniform the following fall. In 2025, he played 872 snaps at right guard and was not charged for a single sack the entire season. First Team All-ACC. PFF’s 14th-ranked guard in the country. Multiple seasons of starting experience across stops at Middle Tennessee State and Georgia Tech, where he arrived as a proven starter and permanent team captain. Field Yates mocked him specifically to Tennessee at pick 35, writing that if the Titans’ goal is to get tougher in this draft, Rutledge fits that description better than almost anyone available. Watch his tape, and it is very hard to argue.

4. Beau Stephens, Iowa — The Joe Moore Award Isn’t Ceremonial. He Helped Win It.

Iowa averaged 197 rushing yards per game in 2024, third in the Big Ten, and Stephens was the reason that line could do what it did. He anchored the left guard spot, did not allow a sack across 682 snaps in 2025, and PFF rated him among the highest-graded guards in college football. He is 6-foot-5, 315 pounds, a First Team All-American who won Iowa’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2024 after missing most of 2023 with an injury. He started his college career at tackle, moved inside to guard, accumulated 35 career starts, and finished on a Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line — the award given to the best unit in the country. Bleacher Report projects him as a fourth-round pick who can compete for a starting role immediately. Multiple analysts draw a pro comparison to Kevin Zeitler. The guard Tennessee just lost.

5. Billy Schrauth, Notre Dame — He Told the Trainer to Tape It and Went Back Out There

Notre Dame versus USC, 2025. Billy Schrauth hurt his knee early in the game. He told the trainer to tape it. He went back out, blocking, driving, competing on a knee that would eventually require surgery and end his college career. That was his last snap as a Notre Dame team captain. Across seven starts in 2025, he did not allow a single sack. Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network went back and watched that tape afterward and posted publicly: “Just finished ND OG Billy Schrauth & the USC tape was excellent. Don’t have any measurables & haven’t heard all the feedback yet, but starter ability all over it.” He is 6-foot-5, 310 pounds, a left guard starter who captained one of the most-watched programs in college football. Medical clearance is the only real question heading into draft weekend. If that knee comes back clean, some team gets a starting-caliber guard at an injury discount. That is not a gamble. That is a draft strategy done right.

If Borgonzi Gets This Right, Ward Never Thinks About David Carr Again

September 2026, first game of the season. Ward takes the snap, sets his feet, and has time — actual time — to let a route develop downfield. The guard to his left drives his man three yards off the line. The guard to his right seals the inside gap clean. Ward steps up, delivers, and walks off the field without counting sacks. That is what one pick at 35 can do. The other version: Zeitler signs elsewhere, Volson’s return from surgery doesn’t hold, and Ward spends another September running for his life behind a line that was never fixed. David Carr was sacked a record 76 times in his rookie season in Houston, and by the time the Texans rebuilt around him, the flinching was permanent. Ward is better than Carr. He deserves better than Carr’s line. Five guards finished 2025 without giving up a sack. One of them can be a Titan. The rest is on Borgonzi.

Sources
Titans QB Cam Ward ties unfortunate No. 1 pick record after being sacked six times in NFL debut — CBS Sports
Jeremiyah Love at No. 4? Titans like Notre Dame running back — ESPN
2026 NFL mock draft: Yates’ pick predictions in Rounds 1-2 — ESPN
2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Oregon OG Emmanuel Pregnon — Steelers Depot
2026 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Georgia Tech OG Keylan Rutledge — Steelers Depot
What historical hit rates reveal about positional success — PFF