Rhode Island star A.J. Pena lands Ravens rookie minicamp invite

Baltimore saw enough of A.J. Pena to bring the Rhode Island linebacker into rookie minicamp, a chance that fits the kind of disruptive defender the Ravens have long valued. Pena confirmed the invite on April 25, 2026, and Rhode Island said he became the first Rams player in 2026 to land a minicamp opportunity.

Pena’s case is built on more than one big season. He finished 2025 with 89 tackles, 21 tackles for loss and 11 sacks, numbers that explain why NFL evaluators kept circling back to him. His 11 sacks tied for eighth most in a single season in school history, while his 21 tackles for loss tied for third in program history. Over his Rhode Island career, Pena set school records with 38 sacks and 65.5 tackles for loss, production that makes him look less like a camp body and more like a linebacker who has already learned how to wreck plays.

That track record also lines up with Baltimore’s defensive identity. Pena brings pass-rush juice from the second level, plus the kind of downhill violence that translates for a team that asks its linebackers to chase, strike and finish. The Ravens are giving him a look because his game is not built on empty tackles; it is built on backfield disruption, and that is the trait that can separate a smaller-school defender from the pile of undrafted hopefuls.

Pena had already spent 2025 turning himself into one of the most decorated defenders in the FCS. He was named the 2025 CAA Defensive Player of the Year and earned first-team All-America honors in 2024 from the Associated Press, Stats Perform, FCS Football Central and Phil Steele. He was also a 2024 Buck Buchanan Award finalist. The CAA’s preseason profile of Pena pointed to his 2024 line of 82 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, five quarterback hurries and two fumble recoveries, a stat sheet that showed the same disruptive profile months before his final season was complete.

His national exposure grew further when he worked at the inaugural FCS-NFL Showcase in Nashville during championship week in January, an event run by the NCAA, the American Football Coaches Association and the NFL for about 50 draft-eligible prospects. For Rhode Island, Pena’s invite matters beyond one player. Three Rams received minicamp invitations last season, and offensive lineman Thomas Buxton later became the second player from the 2025 roster to earn a 2026 NFL look, with the Indianapolis Colts. For a program trying to prove it can keep producing pro defenders, Pena is the best argument yet.