2023 NFL Draft: Offensive Line Outlook

When it comes to OL prospects, this is not your typical year. There is no clear favorite for top tackle, but the interior is loaded. Here are players who should be called early.

It was a wild and exciting college football season with a tremendous amount of talented players from all around the country. This year was shocking with the number of players who made an impression; from freshmen to seniors, there was so much great talent. With all that being said, today isn’t about them. This is about the offensive line, the “big uglies” that make it possible for everyone else to become stars.

It takes a special breed to be an offensive lineman, someone who doesn’t mind getting dirty and knows they will never get the credit they deserve. Though the modern offensive lineman is a true spectacle of a human being, it often goes unnoticed. These players are mostly all huge bodies with mind-blowing athleticism and still an immense amount of power. If you have never seen an over 300-pound player run a sub-five second 40-yard dash, it is truly amazing.

Now to this year’s prospects. This is one of the stranger seasons when it comes to offensive line prospects because there isn’t that top-end tackle, but the interior line is loaded with talent. It is going to be very interesting when mock drafts are released because there are going to be many different opinions on who the first tackle taken will be. Let’s take a look now and see who a few of the top offensive line prospects are. 

Peter Skoronski, Northwestern:

This is the top overall lineman prospect in the entire draft, and it's not even close. He stepped in at left tackle as a freshman and never looked back. 

Skoronski has the versatility to play every position across the line, which is extremely valued in today's NFL. He is a highly athletic player who's not only very technical but also plays with a lot of power. He can easily move up the field and takes great paths to linebackers to seal big runs.

 Skoronski has a big frame which is very conducive to his pass-blocking skills. He was a very hyped prospect coming into school and lived up to it in every way.

 Northwestern had one of the country's top run games, and Skoronski led the way, being the catalyst for several huge plays. He is a plug-and-play prospect for any team in the NFL because of his versatility and knowledge of the game. His intelligence shows that he can plug into any spot across the line, and his play doesn't dip. It will be quite shocking if Skoronski is not a first-round pick. 

Possible Top Tackle Prospects:

As stated before - this is not the strongest crop of offensive tackle prospects, so there will be a lot of different names thrown around in the coming months leading to the draft. Here are a few names you are likely to hear and why they could be the ones.

 Paris Johnson Jr out of Ohio State is one name you will hear a lot because he was a highly touted recruit and put together a great senior season. He improved some of his weak points but still has a lot of technical issues that he needs to work on. He also isn’t the most powerful lineman and can be overtaken easily by a good bull rush. That being said, Johnson is a very hard worker and has done his best to improve his game every year. 

Georgia tackle Broderick Jones seems like the safest pick here. He is a big and powerful lineman but doesn’t have much playing time. He has all the tools to be great, but he needs to put it all together. He is a great mover and will dominate in the run game, but he does need to improve his pass protection. It can take him a bit to diagnose defenses, so sometimes he looks lost. However, his skill set still seems to be the best option. 

A dark horse option is Syracuse tackle Matthew Bergeron; he has a ton of playing experience and has done all across the line. Not to mention, he was a huge reason Syracuse had one of the best run games in the country in the last couple of years and an overall explosive offense in 2022. He is a very smart player and solid in every facet of the game. He would be the clear choice for tackle number one if he had any high-level football experience early in life.

Michigan Interior Linemen:

Over the past two seasons, there hasn’t been a more cohesive and dominant offensive line than Michigan. A two years consecutive Joe Moore Award winner for the best offensive line unit, Michigan has been a consistent force in the college football landscape. 

The focus for them starts in the interior of the line as they have been the standard for the rest of the country. The Michigan interior offensive line has two top prospects out of all offensive linemen. Guard Zak Zinter and center Olusegun Oluwatimi have been a dominant force for the Wolverines the past two seasons and have helped their team only have a single loss in two years. 

They are both strong and technical players who shut down almost everyone they have faced. All you have to do is look at Michigan's offensive production, and it’s easy to see why these players are so respected. Michigan has been primarily a run-first offense, so both players have some work to do in pass protection, but they are quick and should have no problem picking it up. It would not be surprising to see both of these players drafted before the end of the second round. 

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