{"id":9218,"date":"2025-04-14T12:50:36","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T12:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/?p=9218"},"modified":"2025-04-15T11:01:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T11:01:16","slug":"2025-nfl-draft-preview-top-10-offensive-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/2025-nfl-draft-preview-top-10-offensive-line","title":{"rendered":"2025 NFL Draft Preview: The Top 10 Offensive Line Prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 2025 NFL<\/a> Draft will feature top prospects at quarterback<\/a>, running back<\/a>, and wide receiver<\/a>. But purists will tell you that if you want those positions to look their best, it starts up front with the offensive line<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Super Bowl 59 was a rout<\/a> in large part due to the Eagles dominating the pass rush matchup and getting after Patrick Mahomes with a standard four-man rush while the Chiefs had little success getting to Jalen Hurts through that well-built offensive line from Philadelphia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have to build a good line, but doing so appears to be increasingly difficult in the NFL.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, you could argue that the college game is not producing great offensive tackles like it used to. Whether it be the RPOs, the running quarterbacks, or the gimmicky offenses that dominate college football, it\u2019s hard to find pro-ready tackles who are going to hold blocks for more than 2.5 seconds with real consistency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proof of the problem can be seen when you ask people to name the best offensive tackles in the NFL right now. You get a lot of answers like Trent Williams<\/a> (drafted in 2010), Lane Johnson (2013), and before last year, Tyron Smith (2011).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where exactly are all the studs from recent years? Laremy Tunsil<\/a> was supposed to be one of those players, and he\u2019s on his third team this year (Washington).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, at least there are Penei Sewell (Lions) and Tristan Wirfs (Buccaneers) for the 2020s. But it\u2019s a far cry from those days of Willie Roaf, Jonathan Ogden, Orlando Pace, Walter Jones, Willie Anderson, Tony Boselli, Joe Thomas, etc. Maybe the 1990s and 2000s were the outliers, but it sure doesn\u2019t feel like the game is producing Hall of Fame tackles like it used to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the era where Mike McGlinchey (2018), Andrew Thomas (2020), and Ikem Ekwonu (2022) look more like your typical top 10 pick at offensive tackle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, the offensive line is more like a unit where your weakest link may matter more than having one elite player. For example, the 2024 Chiefs had a left tackle issue, starting Joe Thuney, a guard, as their fourth left tackle of the season. That didn\u2019t work out in the Super Bowl against a strong Philadelphia defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why you could argue it\u2019s much better to build a line with five decent starters than one with one elite starter and some scrubs. It\u2019s hard to cover up a weak link, especially at tackle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But keeping five good players together is nearly impossible in today\u2019s NFL when you have to pay your quarterback, your receivers, and your pass rushers if you\u2019re lucky enough to find great players at those positions, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aaron Banks was a middling guard that the 49ers drafted in the second round in 2021. The team declined to give him a second contract, so he hit it big in free agency with a 4-year deal worth $77 million from the Packers. We\u2019ll see how that works out, but it\u2019s probably good practice to just draft a young guard instead of overpaying like that for someone who isn\u2019t even Pro Bowl caliber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why the draft is so important to keep finding linemen cheaply that you can at least keep in the building for four or five seasons before they get paid elsewhere. Only pay the ones that really work out, like Sewell and Wirfs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that said, let\u2019s look at this year\u2019s class of offensive linemen. Using the prospect rankings from NFL Mock Draft Database<\/a>, we are going to look at the top 10 players that have a top 64 ranking, including six offensive tackles and four interior linemen<\/a>. We\u2019ll pick some potential landing spots for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n