Diego Pavia didn’t have the draft process he wanted. The former Vanderbilt quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist went undrafted despite being one of college football’s best players, leading him to sign a three-year deal as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Ravens shortly after the draft ended.
Pavia’s stats speak for themselves: he spent two years at Vanderbilt after transferring from New Mexico State. In 2025, he threw for 3,539 yards and 29 touchdowns to eight interceptions while completing 70.6 percent of his passes, adding 862 rushing yards and 10 more touchdowns on the ground.
But draft scouting is rarely that simple. Pavia is small and doesn’t have NFL-caliber arm talent, nor does he read the field well from the pocket. After Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy over him, Pavia called out the Indiana program publicly, stirring up unneeded drama and causing teams to questions his maturity. After going undrafted, he called out the NFL in a similar way on social media, though he’s since deleted the post.
GettyTAMPA, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 31: Diego Pavia #2 of the Vanderbilt Commodores (now of the Baltimore Ravens) runs against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the first half of the ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium on December 31, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
GettyTAMPA, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 31: Diego Pavia #2 of the Vanderbilt Commodores (now of the Baltimore Ravens) runs against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the first half of the ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium on December 31, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
Appearing on Good Morning Football, Ravens HC Jesse Minter was interviewed about signing Pavia after the draft.
“One thing I would say about Diego — and Clark Lee, the head coach at Vanderbilt, is a really dear, close friend of mine — [Pavia] was a force multiplier at Vanderbilt,” Minter said on Wednesday. “He came there at a time when they needed to get it going and Clark was building something. And this guy made everybody in the building better. He’s one of the first people in, he’s one of the last to leave, he’s a really hard worker.”
“You know, we’ll certainly have some talks about maybe how to handle some things a little bit better,” Minter continued, alluding to Pavia’s media incidents. “But again, [to] any rookie undrafted free agent: come in and work, let what you do on the field, and by your actions, show who you are. And we’ll let him come in with a little bit of a clean slate, and just give him a platform, along with the rest of the guys coming in, give him a platform to see what he can do.”
Though he did technically sign a three-year deal with the Ravens, Pavia isn’t guaranteed to make the team in 2026. To do that, he’ll have to prove himself not only better than some of the other quarterbacks on the roster, but that he’s worth Baltimore using three roster spots on quarterbacks.
Two-time MVP QB Lamar Jackson isn’t going anywhere, and the Ravens signed Tyler Huntley to be his backup. That leaves Pavia battling fellow undrafted free agent Joe Fagnano (from UConn) to be the third-string quarterback in Baltimore.
Pavia is certainly talented enough to win that job. Whether he has the mental makeup to accept a reserve role in the NFL remains to be seen.
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Ethan Woodie is an accomplished sports writer specializing in the NFL and college football for Heavy.com. He’s written for Heavy since 2025 and has years of experience writing for NFL Trade Rumors and Pro Football Focus (PFF). Woodie is an expert in draft scouting and his Big Board was included in Arif Hasan’s media consensus board for Wide Left in both 2025 and 2026. More about Ethan Woodie
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