Aireontae Ersery is one of the best players in college football according to new list

Ersery continues to be recognized as one of the best players in college football.

Picture via GopherSports /

Minnesota starting left tackle Aireontae Ersery continues to be mentioned among some of the best players in college football this preseason. According to a recent ESPN top-100 list, he is 59th-best player in the country entering this season.

"The 6-foot-6, 330-pound Ersery enters his third season as a starter at tackle and could be one of the top offensive linemen for the 2025 NFL draft," the story reads. "He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in 2023. His 86.7 run-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus trailed only Oregon State's Taliese Fuaga, selected 14th overall in April's NFL draft."

Hailing from Ruskin High School in Kansas City, Missouri, Ersery came to Minnesota as a raw offensive tackle project. He played only three years of football in his life before signing with the Gophers as a three-star recruit.

He has received a plethora of preseason honors this summer, and it's clear that he is one of the best offensive linemen in the country. In fact, there are only seven offensive linemen ranked higher on ESPN's list.

Ersery's run blocking is so good that it garnered a comparison to "prime Mike Tyson."

Under P.J. Fleck, Minnesota has become known for a run-heavy offensive scheme and they will have all of the tools to continue that trend this season. Ersery is surrounded by a veteran group of offensive linemen, returning four starters from a season ago.

Minnesota currently has a six-year stretch of producing an NFL draft pick and all signs point towards Ersery continuing that trend in 2025. It's just a matter of how high he goes...