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Predicting the top 15 Offensive Tackles in five years

Predicting who will be the top 15 offensive tackles in the NFL in five years. This can include current NFL stars, as well as college stars.

Offensive tackles may not win fantasy football games, but they are very important to winning football games. Tackle has been a premium position in the NFL for a while now and that isn’t changing anytime soon.

With the tackles entering the league in recent draft classes many of these stars will still be at the top of their game in five years.

There will also be tackles who haven’t even played a down of football in the NFL yet who will emerge as stars.

It’s hard to predict what the NFL will look like next year, much less in five years. However, it’s fun to project, so why not at least try?

Any ages listed are the players age for the 2027 season, so December 31, 2027.

Stats were found on PFF Premium Stats.

Honorable Mentions

2021 draft or earlier

All of these wide receivers are very good tackles currently and are young enough right now to still be playing at a high level in five years and come in just outside of the top 15 of this list.

Those players include:

Kaleb McGary 32

Kolton Miller 32

Brian O’Neill 32

Laremy Tunsil 33

Josh Jones 30

Orlando Brown Jr. 31

Braden Smith 31

Samuel Cosmi 28

2022 draft 

Evan Neal 27

Evan Neal was one of the best prospects in the 2022 draft class.  His combination of massive size at 6-foot-7, 350 pounds, athletic ability, and movement skills is rare and gives him an all-pro type of upside.

Unfortunately, he had a disappointing rookie season as his 44.0 was second worst amongst tackles in the league.  This keeps him out of the top 15 list, but he still has a lot of potential.

Trevor Penning 28

Trevor Penning was a dominant force for Northern Iowa before being drafted in the first round at 19th overall by the Saints.  He played limited snaps in his rookie season, but with his athleticism he’s someone with potential to develop into a high level tackle.

Abraham Lucas 29

Abraham Lucas was a third round pick by the Seahawks out of Washington State.  He was their starting right tackle and had a very promising rookie season.  He looks like he’ll at a minimum be a quality starter over the next five plus years, so getting him in the third round is very good value for the Seahawks.

Bernhard Raimann 30

Coming out of Central Michigan, Bernhard Raimann had some first round hype, but ended up falling to the Colts in the third round.  Raimann’s rookie year showed he likely deserved to go round one however as he had a very solid rookie year as the starting left tackle.

Jamaree Salyer 27

As a sixth round pick Jamaree Salyer didn’t even come into the season as a starter.  However, when Rashawn Slater went down Salyer stepped up into a starting role at left tackle for the last 15 games of the season and played well.

2023 draft 

Broderick Jones 26

Broderick Jones is a projected top 20 pick in this year’s class.  He was a reliable presence along Georgia’s offensive line and certainly has the tools to develop into a high end tackle in the NFL.

2024 draft or later

Olumuyiwa Fashanu 2024 draft Penn State

J.C. Latham 2024 draft Alabama

Zach Rice 2025 draft North Carolina

Josh Conerly Jr. 2025 draft Oregon

Kadyn Proctor 2026 draft Alabama

Francis Mauigoa 2026 draft Miami (FL)

Top 15 Tackles in Five Years

15 Peter Skoronski 26 Northwestern

Peter Skoronski is the favorite to be the first offensive linemen off the board in the 2023 draft and for good reason as he was an absolute monster for Northwestern over the course of his career at Northwestern.

He excelled as both a run blocker and pass protector as he was a three year starter at left tackle and made an all-conference team every season.  His last season was particularly dominant as he was the third highest graded tackle in the country and allowed just six pressures all season.

14 Blake Miller 2025 Draft Clemson

It’s hard to project players just one year out of high school to the NFL.  However it’s clear Blake Miller has a lot of potential.  He was the full-time starter at right tackle at Clemson as a true freshman and was a freshman all-american.

It’s still far out but as of right now Blake Miller looks like a future star.

13 Charles Cross 27 Seahawks

Charles Cross was an elite tackle prospect in last year’s draft as the ninth overall pick to the Seahawks.  Cross had a solid season starting every game for them at left tackle and still has a lot of room left to improve as well.

Between him and Abraham Lucas it appears the Seahawks have found two starting tackles for the next five years plus in the 2023 draft.

12 Jordan Mailata 30 Eagles

The only tackle who will be in their 30s in five years to make the top 15 is Jordan Mailata.  He was a major project as a former rugby player and seventh round pick in the 2018 draft.  He has since developed into one of the best tackles in the league.

Although he’ll be on the wrong side of 30, there’s still plenty of tackles who can produce high-level play in their early 30s and I believe Mailata projects to be one of them.

11 Will Campbell 2025 Draft LSU

Will Campbell was a highly rated four star recruit in the 2022 class as he was the 36th ranked player on 247 sports composite rankings.

He is off to a phenomenal start to his career as he started every game for LSU at left tackle as named a freshman all-american.  Campbell was even the fourth-highest graded left tackle in the SEC with a 75.4 PFF grade.  Doing that as a true freshman in the SEC is quite remarkable.

10 Braxton Jones 28 Bears

The 2022 draft offensive tackle class has a chance to be one of the best ever.  It features many big names from the first three rounds of the draft.  However, it was a fifth round pick that was PFF’s highest graded rookie tackle.

Braxton Jones wasn’t expected to have much impact in the NFL as a fifth rounder out of Southern Utah.  However, he quickly showed that he was one of the hidden gems in the 2022 draft as he had a very good rookie season, starting every game at left tackle for the Bears.

9 Paris Johnson Jr. 26 Ohio State

Paris Johnson Jr. was the top offensive tackle in his class coming out of high school and it’s apparent why that was the case.  He is already a very good player and still has room to improve.  With his combination of quickness and strength at 6-foot-6, 310 pounds he has an all-pro type of ceiling.

8 Tyler Smith 26 Cowboys

The next tackle out of the 2022 draft class to make this list is the Cowboys’ first round pick Tyler Smith.  He was seen as a bit of a project that needed some time to develop, however Smith had a good year for the Cowboys starting at left tackle.

With many analysts seeing him as a bit of a project, he’s already ahead of schedule in his career and has the look of a potential high end tackle in the future.

7 Ikem Ekwonu 27 Panthers

Ikem Ekwonu was a highly rated prospect in the 2022 draft class and is one of four tackles from that class to make this top 15 list.

Ekwonu was a dominant force as a run blocker at NC State, often tossing defenders around like they were children.  He also showcased the movement skills to be a very good pass protector as well.

He had a rough first few games starting at left tackle for the Panthers, but quickly turned it around and ended up having a pretty good rookie year.

6 Tristan Wirfs 28 Buccaneers

Since coming into the league in the 2020 draft as a first round pick Tristan Wirfs has been one of the best tackles in the league.  

As a rookie he was an important piece on the Buccaneers’ super bowl winning offensive line.  He has since followed that up with first and second team all pro selections.

Wirfs will be 28 years old and in his prime in five years and projects to remain amongst the best tackles in the game.

5 Joe Alt 2024 Draft Notre Dame

With so many talented young offensive tackles in the NFL today, it may seem crazy to put someone not eligible for the draft until 2024 in the top five of this list.  However, Joe Alt is that special of a player.

Alt was PFF’s top graded offensive tackle in 2022 as allowed no sacks and just eight pressures all season and was dominant in run blocking.

He already has the look of a future top five draft pick and likely would be the first tackle off the board if he was eligible for the 2023 draft.

4 Penei Sewell 27 Lions

Penei Sewell was a blue chip prospect in one of the best draft classes ever in 2021.  He was the seventh overall pick to the Lions and has certainly lived up to expectations in his first two seasons.

He’s quickly turned into one of the best right tackles in football and is still just 22 years old.  Sewell has a very bright future in this league and is an easy choice to be amongst tackles in the league in five years.

3 Rashawn Slater 28 Chargers

Since stepping foot in the league in 2021 it was clear just how good Rashawn Slater is.  In his rookie season as the left tackle for the Chargers he was already one of the best tackles in football.

Unfortunately, a bicep injury ended his season after three games in 2022.  If he can stay healthy, Slater is in store for a terrific career.

2 Christian Darrisaw 28 Vikings

Christian Darrisaw is one of three tackles from the 2021 draft to make the top four of this list.  He was 21st off the board on draft night and emerged as one of the best tackles in the league this season.

Darrisaw was a bit overshadowed by Sewell and Slater in his draft class but he showed this season that he could be just as good or better than either of them.  His 90.3 PFF grade was the second highest of any tackle in the NFL this season behind only Trent Williams.

1 Andrew Thomas 28 Giants

Andrew Thomas was a blue chip prospect in the 2020 class as he was the fourth overall pick to the Giants.  He had all pro type of potential since stepping into the league and showcased that this season.

Thomas was one of the best tackles in the league this year as his 89.1 PFF grade was third best in the NFL and he was named second team all pro.

At just 23 years old, it’s clear Thomas is in store for a very good career and is a great pick to be the best tackle in football in five years.

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