2025 NFL Draft: OT Feast or Famine
Potential seems to be there, but no sure-fire stars yet
The 2024 offensive line class was one of the deepest the league has seen in years. Joe Alt (Chargers), Taliese Fuaga (Saints), J.C. Latham (Titans), Olu Fashanu (Jets) and Amarius Mims (Bengals) headline Tier 1 of the class, bringing with them an undeniable combination of size, strength and athleticism.
Other tackle prospects have versatility as their calling card. Troy Fautanu (Steelers) and Graham Barton (Buccaneers) are viewed as tweeners who could move to guard at the next level. Players like Kiran Amegadjie (Bears) and Kingsley Suamataia (Chiefs) were imposing specimens with traits that teams fight over.
I could go on and on about the depth of this year’s class, so it is unlikely the 2025 class will live up to the talent we saw drafted this past April, but the tackle position is one of the most important in football, and it’s a certainty teams will continue to select tackles high in the draft, no matter if they are blue-chip or developmental prospects.
Will Campbell (LSU) looks to headline next year’s group, but fellow teammate Emery Jones (LSU), Aireontae Ersery (Minnesota), and Wyatt Milum (West Virginia) all project to be early selections in 2025. In my opinion, the top tackle spot is up for grabs, and how each of them performs this year will determine who should be the first tackle taken next year. Let’s look at each of these players individually and break down the top tier of next year’s group.
Will Campbell — OT, LSU, 6056, 320, Jr, 5.02 40 (est). Ranked 6th overall and 1st-ranked OT on Hall of Football
Overview
Campbell is a third-year junior at LSU. He made an immediate impact as a freshman, starting at OT on Day 1 of training camp his freshman year. In 2022, he joined Emery Jones and Mason Taylor as three true freshman starters, the first time in school history that an offensive lineup has featured three true freshmen starters.
He grew up in Monroe, Louisiana, and attended Neville High School. Campbell was the top recruit out of the state of Louisiana (4th recruit in the nation), was a four-year starter at Neville, helped the team to a 10-3 record as a sophomore, and made an appearance in the semifinals in the playoffs his sophomore, junior and senior years. He was also selected to the 2022 Under Armour All-American Game prior to committing to LSU. He earned various awards during his time at LSU, such as:
2023 First-Team All-SEC (coaches)
2023 Second-Team All-SEC (AP)
2023 Joe Moore Award finalist
2023 SEC Academic honor roll
2022 Freshman All-America (Football Writers Association of America)
2022 True Freshman All-America (ESPN)
2022 First-Team Freshman All-America (College Football News)
2022 Second-Team All-SEC (Coaches)
2022 Freshman All-SEC (Coaches)
2022 SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week vs. Florida
2022 LSU Offensive Lineman of the Year
Strengths
Campbell has tremendous size and good length, with superb athleticism and lateral agility when mirroring and climbing to the second level. In pass pro, he displays outstanding hand strength/placement to engage and sustain blocks, great foot speed to get east/west, good awareness, and the ability to adjust to stunts/twists. His hand technique is polished as a run blocker; he gets his mitts inside pads to create leverage. He can climb and locate at the second level on zone concepts; his plus athletic ability helps him square up quicker defenders. He has great sustainability as a run blocker as well in both zone and gap; his hands are like vice grips, and defenders struggle mightily when trying to disengage. He is very smooth as a puller on gap concepts, as he gets out of his stance quickly and works down the line to clear traffic in space.
Weaknesses
He plays with a very compact base in pass pro and as a run blocker, but with feet too close together, which makes him susceptible to getting driven into the quarterback vs. a bull rush. Because of technique issues with the lower half, he shows only adequate ability to sink and anchor in pass pro, so opponents can work through him rather easily. He has a tendency to lean in on the initial punch that creates openings for defenders with great timing to win with rip and pull swim moves. He can have difficulty moving stronger opponents in the trenches but could add muscle to his frame to improve both in pass protection and as a run blocker.
Summary
Will Campbell has blue-chip tackle traits and is viewed as one of the best tackles in the nation heading into 2024. He shows promising potential in both phases of offense, but he needs to continue to add to his frame and polish up his technique in pass pro to eliminate some legitimate concerns. If he can do that, he will indeed cement himself as the top tackle prospect in next year’s draft.
Emery Jones — OT, LSU, 6045, 322, Jr, 5.00 40 (est). 21st overall prospect and 2nd-ranked OT on Hall of Football
Overview
Emery Jones is a third-year junior at LSU. He was named a starter early on in his freshman year and has started 24 of 26 career games at LSU. He heads into the 2024 season widely regarded as one of the top tackles in college football.
He played his high school ball at Catholic High School in Louisiana, where he was a four-star prospect and was ranked 12th in the state of Louisiana. During high school, he played in the state title game four times and helped Catholic win back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021. He was named 5A First-Team All-State and First Team All-District twice in 2020 and 2021. Some notable accolades he has earned so far at LSU include:
2023 Finalist Joe Moore Offensive Line of the Year Award
2023 Second-Team All-SEC (coaches)
2023 SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week vs. Missouri
2023 LSU Offensive Lineman of the Year (LSU coaching staff)
2022 True Freshman All-America (ESPN)
2022 Third-Team Freshman All-America (College Football News)
2022 Freshman All-SEC (coaches)
Strengths
Jones has a wide frame and excellent physical strength at the POA both in pass pro and as a run blocker. In pass pro, he plays with quality balance from good footwork and pad level, has a solid initial punch to knock his opponent back at first contact, and displays a very good anchor ability to halt bull rushes. He is a snowplow in the trenches who can overpower the defender with his strength at the POA and seal running lanes well. He consistently plays with good footwork and pad level in zone and gap to win leverage battles. Overall, he is a solid athlete who moves well for his size, and he is decent at working in space and to the second level to locate defenders. He demonstrates legitimate finishing ability when blocking for the run. He is able to win with his strength and plays with the physicality to throw opponents to the ground.
Weaknesses
Jones’ foot speed/quickness is substandard; he has muddy feet and can struggle to get depth against speed rushers with a quick get-off. He shows stiffness when getting lateral in pass pro, meaning twitchier opponents can beat him with hesitation/double moves. His hand placement in both pass pro and run blocking is marginal, and his hands are often wide and sloppy; defenders with quality hand technique are able to work underneath and around him. He has adequate hand strength to sustain blocks at a high level, but defenders can disengage and get from his grasp at the POA.
Summary
Emery Jones has the frame and potential that teams look for to protect their franchise quarterback, so that’s a good start. Expect him to come in and provide an impact as a run blocker, but he may be a liability on the edge due to his limitations in pass pro. If he is unable to improve his hand technique and continues to struggle with speed, moving inside to guard may be best for him.
Aireontae Ersery — OT, Minnesota, 6051, 325, rSr, 5.20 40 (est). 36th overall player and 3rd-ranked OT on Hall of Football
Overview
Aireontae Ersery is a fourth-year redshirt senior at Minnesota. He solidified himself as the leader of the Gophers’ offensive line, starting all 26 games over the past two seasons.
He attended Ruskin High School in Kansas City, Missouri. Ersery was a consensus three-star recruit and was ranked 71st amongst offensive tackles in the nation. He didn’t start playing football until his junior year of high school, where he played both offensive tackle and defensive end. He also competed in the shot put, discus, and javelin. Some awards he has earned at Minnesota include:
All-Big Ten Second Team (2023)
AP First Team All-Big Ten (2023)
All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (2022)
Academic All-Big Ten (2021)
Strengths
Ersery is an enormous human being with elite height and frame and a massive wingspan for the tackle position. He works from a great base in pass pro with sound footwork and lower half mechanics. He has solid foot speed to mirror and gains depth with kickslides. He also has excellent physical strength and the mechanics to anchor against a power rush. As a run blocker, his hands are tight and accurate when engaging, and he uses his power to relocate opponents and clear running lanes. Overall, he has fair athletic ability to work in space, get to the second level, and pull on zone and gap concepts. He can clear out and obliterate DBs and smaller LBs as a puller and on screen attempts. He plays with great physicality in the trenches and can overpower and put defenders in the dirt when he gains leverage. As a run blocker, Ersery also holds and sustains blocks well at the POA, he is able to use his premier length to get into the opponent’s chest and hold his assignment.
Weaknesses
He has a tendency to rely on his length too much at the POA and lean forward instead of bending his lower half. This sets him up to occasionally get beat with speed and doubles moves. Hand technique and footwork sometimes get sloppy against edge speed, making him susceptible to holding penalties and getting beat by defenders who use accurate hand technique. As a run blocker, he likewise shows sloppy footwork, relying on length to win at the POA instead of using his feet to get into a better position to seal off lanes. Ersery struggles squaring up athletic LBs and DBs when climbing to second level, as defenders are able to work around him on those situations.
Summary
Aireontae Ersery is built like a franchise tackle and has tremendous upside. However, because he started playing football late in life, his technique is still raw and needs polishing. Footwork is the biggest issue for him and he relies too much on his long arms and immense. If he can continue to grow, I believe he could become the best of this group next year.
Wyatt Milum — OT, West Virginia, 6055, 317, Sr, 4.93 40 (est). 60th overall player and 4th-ranked OT on Hall of Football
Overview
Milum is a fourth-year senior at West Virginia. He started 32 of 36 career games there and, with his level of play over the past few seasons, has carved out a nice collegiate career.
Milum is a native of West Virginia and played high school ball at Spring Valley. He played offensive and defensive tackle at Spring Valley and was Sports Illustrated’s No. 1 offensive tackle in the nation and a top-10 overall player. He was a three-time West Virginia All-State honoree, earning first-team honors as a junior and senior and second-team as a sophomore, and was a three-time All-Mountain State Athletic Conference selection, twice on the first team (2020, 2019) and once on the second team (2018). He has earned a plethora of accolades at West Virginia, such as:
On3 True Freshman All-America Team (2021)
The Athletic Freshman All-America Team (2021)
FWAA Freshman All-America Team (2021)
WVU Offensive Lineman of the Game: Oklahoma (2022)
Academic All-Big 12 Conference First Team (2022)
WVU Offensive Lineman of the Game: Duquesne, Texas Tech, UCF (2023)
WVU Offensive Champion: Texas Tech (2023)
2023 All-Big 12 Conference Second Team (coaches, Phil Steele)
2023 All-American Honorable-Mention (Phil Steele)
Academic All-Big 12 Conference First Team (2023)
Strengths
Milum has top-line height, plus the length of a traditional tackle prospect. As a pass blocker, he plays with a good base and stays balanced against both power and speed moves off the edge. He displays quick feet, covers ground well in pass rush sets and shows superb lower body flexibility to sink and anchor against the bull rush and other power moves. He shows quality hand technique and footwork as a run blocker on both zone and gap and is able to seal very well on combo and down blocks. He is a fluid athlete who glides in space, works to the second level effectively and locates and seals LBs to create running lanes. Milum pulls down the line smoothly and is good at picking up the free end and sealing the edge to open up perimeter lanes. He sustains as a run blocker satisfactorily and consistently exhibits good hand strength and technique to hold his assignments. He also shows the hip torque to finish LBs and smaller linemen in the trenches, and plays with a notable physicality.
Weaknesses
He is a little light in the tail and needs to add to his frame to hang with stronger opponents who can win with power. Milum’s bad hand technique results in a tendency to get beat with speed. Also, his hands get wide and sloppy, and quicker defenders are able to win and force him into holding calls. Stronger opponents who hold gaps well at the POA can give him trouble, and Milum can struggle to seal lanes and sustain his block. He also falls into mental lapses and, at times, reacts slowly to stunts/twists, sometimes resulting in defenders having a free run at the quarterback.
Summary
Wyatt Milum is flying under the radar a bit because he is not the twitchiest or most freakish athlete at his position. He plays with sound mechanics and can help stabilize an offensive line. Some of his mechanics need fine-tuning, and he could benefit from more muscle on his frame, but overall, he presents a safe upside that a team could benefit from if it takes a chance on him.
I wouldn’t say any of these prospects are potential can’t-miss franchise tackles at the next level, but they do possess some exciting traits and skills teams will be intrigued by. Each of these players needs to show growth and improvement in 2024 to round out his game and continue to climb up the boards. The top of the projected 2025 tackle class seems weaker than last year’s, but that won’t stop teams from betting on traits and attributes that front offices and coaches see as necessary to keep their quarterbacks upright for the foreseeable future.