Ranking the top 15 players at each position on the O-line entering the 2025 season (Top 75)

Over the last four off-seasons (2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024) I’ve ranked my top 15 players at each position on the O-line (top 75 in total). This helps me assess the landscape of starters entering a season and breaks up players into broader groups of ability that crystallize where certain guys fall in the pecking order relative to their peers. The order within tiers is more malleable and can be debated, while the cut-off points between tiers offer a more concrete way of stacking players.

The tiers are based on my 1-7 grading scale that I use for my trait-based style of scouting. It helps to look at the pool of players in the NFL on a spectrum over a bell curve. The bulk of the players fall somewhere between 3-5 (average performers) while the numbers shrink on the margins (1-2 low performers & 6-7 high performers).

1 = Elite. These players win essentially all reps against any level of competition below ‘elite’ while splitting reps evenly with other elite players. There are very few players in this tier at any position in a given season, and it represents the smallest bucket of players (along with tier 7). This rarified group produces scheme transcendent players that regularly play at an All-Pro level regardless of the situation around them.

2 = Very good. These players are impact starters that win the majority of their reps against lower tier players, split them among other tier 2 players and can compete with tier 1 players. This group is where most All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections come from and are often referred to as ‘blue chip’ starters.

3 = Good or above average. These players compete with the majority of competition across the NFL. They rarely win any rep handily, lose most of them when isolated against higher tier opponents and are referred to as ‘red chip’ starters. Red chip players, or above average/good starters, can have Pro Bowl selections on their resume and some blue chip traits. However, they lack the consistency of higher tiered players and are often more dependent on the system and players around them for success.

4 = Solid or average. These players form the lifeblood of most NFL rosters. They have dependable skill-sets and can be developed into tier 3 players. They often have a more clearly defined ceiling than tier 3 players and have high enough floors to stick around as starters for a half dozen or more years if they’re in the right system.

*For the purposes of this article, we won’t be using any grade below tier 4, but I’ve included the rest of the scale for additional background information and context.

5 = Adequate or below average. These players are often pushed into starting lineups at the thinnest positions across the NFL (QB, OL, CB). The scheme plays a significant role in their effectiveness. They usually have a trait or two that are or can be developed into the ‘solid’ range while being ‘serviceable’ starters in the right situation, valuable parts of a rotation and quality depth.

6 = Marginal. These players represent the bottom of NFL rosters and can be put into the low-end of the ‘developmental’ bucket, usually lacking the necessary physical traits to become everyday starters.

7 = Poor. These players are few and far between across NFL rosters. They are usually weeded out in training camp and preseason and are often stashed on practice squads if kept at all. In rare instances, you will see them get on an NFL field in the regular season, usually on bottom-tier teams that experience multiple injuries at one position.

With the terms now defined, let’s get into the rankings.

*No rookies were included in the rankings

2025 OL Position Rankings

LT Overview

Tier 1

Left tackle has been the deepest position on the offensive line in the NFL over the last several seasons. That claim took a hit this off-season with the retirements of Tyron Smith and Terron Armstead. The best players who just missed the cut are two young blindside protectors with remaining upside to make a jump up the hierarchy this upcoming season: Seahawks LT Charles Cross and Jets LT Olu Fashanu.

1. Trent Williams - Williams is one of two guys on this entire list who has been the consensus number one player at his position during all five years of these rankings (the other being Eagles RT Lane Johnson). The margin between him and the next best left tackle is smaller than it has been over that span, considering his 2024 season was cut short after just 10 starts due to an ankle injury.

The reason for keeping him as LT1 stems from the context surrounding his 2024 film that suggests there is plenty still left in the tank to put together another dominant season in 2025. Not only did Williams begin the 2024 season as the oldest starting offensive lineman in the league, he was fresh off of a holdout from a contract dispute that took away his training camp and preseason. He didn’t rejoin the team until just six days before Week 1. Despite not being in great shape for the first couple of games, his vintage cat-like quickness was remarkably still there. As he rounded into shape the stretches of unmatched physical traits quickly returned. Even entering his age 37 season, Williams’ surplus of physical talent, built up cache and rejuvenated mindset (participating in OTAs and the off-season program for the first time in 10 years) are enough to maintain the “LT1” distinction entering 2025.

2. Tristan Wirfs - Wirfs is entering his sixth season and third at left tackle after becoming the first player in NFL history to earn First Team All-Pro status at both tackle spots (2021 at RT and 2024 at LT). It’s safe to say that he is the favorite for being next in line to man the top spot at left tackle. If you wanted to take a longer view of the position, say over the next three seasons, he would be there. Wirfs has a similar look and feel on film to all-time great Walter Jones in terms of his build, movement skills and overwhelming play strength. We’re witnessing an all-time great who is just entering his prime in 2025.

UPDATE: Wirfs re-aggravated a lingering knee injury from the 2024 season last week. Rather than play through the pain, he decided to have surgery that could result in him beginning the year on the PUP list, keeping him out for the first four games. While this doesn’t immediately impact his overall standing at the position long-term, it is an unexpected hurdle that dings his durability.

Tristan Wirfs Film Room

3. Rashawn Slater - Slater is coming off of a 15-start season where he missed a game and a half due (Weeks 3 and 4) to a significant pec injury that he played through for the bulk of the year. In his latest outstanding season, Slater teamed with rookie right tackle Joe Alt to form one of the few elite tackle duos in the NFL. Slater put together numerous signature performances last season, including shutting down Maxx Crosby, a lights out performance his first game back from the pec injury against the Broncos’ stable of explosive edge-rushers, another stellar outing against Chase Young in a matchup that dates back to their college days and more. Slater is comparable to Wirfs in raw ability, traits and skills but the delineation came down to Wirfs having a cleaner overall season than Slater in pass protection. Slater gave up three decisive, clean sacks to Myles Garrett x 2 and Nick Herbig x 1 early in the year whereas Wirfs gave up zero all season.

Rashawn Slater Film Room

Tier 2

4. Dion Dawkins - Dawkins aka “The Shnowman” is one of the biggest men (6’4”, 330 lbs. with 35” arms) and personalities at any position on the line. He backs up his status on the field with a uniquely violent, unbridled playing style paired with sneaky good athletic ability and a truly dominant “Ice Pick” technique that he spams against the best edge-rushers in the league on a weekly basis. The technique is his version of the snatch-trap technique. Dawkins has been using this to defeat rushers his whole career but over the last two seasons it has become the most potent iteration of the technique in the entire NFL. Dawkins’ ultra-aggressive approach still lends itself to more variance in pass protection than the tier one group, but he has bridged that gap to the point where he deserves to sit atop a loaded tier two entering 2025.

5. Laremy Tunsil - Tunsil is coming off of a 17-start season and fifth career Pro Bowl selection in 2024 where he was a very good left tackle relative to his peers across the league. Tunsil maintained the hallmarks of a premier left tackle in that he rarely lost in one-on-one scenarios as a pass protector while being a well-rounded asset as a run blocker. The bulk of his losses on film were a combination of mental lapses and/or miscommunications with tight ends, backs or his left guard (Houston had a revolving door of four different starters at LG) that resulted in free runners and a barrage of penalties. Tunsil was called for a career-high 19 penalties last year, including 12 false starts per PFR, similar to his 2019 season when he was called for 18 penalties and 12 false starts. Overall, Tunsil has been either a tier one (2024/2023) or tier two (2022/2021) left tackle since I began these rankings. With fewer penalties and a fresh start in Washington, he should land within that same range in 2025.

6. Jordan Mailata - Mailata is coming off of a 12-start, Second Team All-Pro season in 2024. It was the best year of his career, despite the fact that he missed four games due to a hamstring injury. At 6’8”, 360+ pounds, Mailata is a startlingly smooth mover, special run blocker and has increasingly improved in pass protection to the point that his overall game belongs firmly in tier two. Mailata will still struggle to mirror against adept counters and inside moves, but this issue arose at a lower clip in 2024 than any point over the last three seasons. It’s important for context to note that he plays next to an elite-level left guard in Landon Dickerson, and Philadelphia ran the ball more than any team in the league last year. This resulted in the O-line’s percentage of pass blocking snaps (46%) being lower than any team in football by a wide margin. Mailata has had the luxury of operating in as close to ideal circumstances as possible since becoming a starter, which has been critical to his rise. Considering his obscure background, he remains one of the most impressive developmental stories in NFL history.

7. Andrew Thomas - If not for an accumulation of injuries over the last two seasons (18 missed starts), I would have Thomas ranked higher in tier two based purely off of his on-field ability. Prior to having a second consecutive season cut short by injury, Thomas was trending towards tier one status due to his stark improvement that began in the second half of the 2021 season. Thomas learned to master his footwork, pace and positional leverage in pass protection to complement his immense physical tools. This allows him to regularly beat rushers to the spot, establish first meaningful contact and end reps on command with a stout anchor. He is also an excellent run blocker with very good power to displace down linemen and the burst to hit landmarks and line up targets on the move. While his recent injury history is concerning, he is still just 26 years old and has plenty of prime years left to reach his potential as a tier one player.

8. Christian Darrisaw - Darrisaw checks in at the bottom of tier two for the second year in a row despite trending upwards before suffering a torn ACL and MCL in Week 8 last season. Prior to the injury, Darrisaw was playing at a similar level as he did in 2023. His stout, thick build, firm anchor and heavy hands put him at a physical advantage over most competition. His strike timing and recovery skills still need refinement to avoid being set up, and he needs to land his hands on target and protect the corner more consistently. He just turned 26 years old this past June and should rebound enough in 2025 to give him a chance at moving up the left tackle hierarchy this time next off-season.

Tier 3

9. Jake Matthews - Matthews isn’t as physically imposing or sturdy of a presence as the names above. His anchor is sometimes tardy against power, but he is a technically sound, good athlete and refined zone run blocker with unmatched durability. Entering 2025, Matthews is on a 178 game consecutive starting streak (183 including playoffs), which is far and away the highest mark in the NFL (second most is Bills QB Josh Allen at 105). There are more prototypical, higher-ceiling blindside protectors out there, but it is difficult to overstate the value of Matthews’ impeccable reliability and considerably high floor.

10. Ronnie Stanley - The 2024 season was the culmination of an improbable and incredible comeback for Stanley after a devastating ankle injury in 2020. Analysts questioned if he could recover into an everyday starter again, let alone close to his First Team All-Pro level in 2019. He gradually increased his mobility, strength and availability over the last three seasons to start 11 (2022), 13 (2023) and 17 games (2024). He also earned a Pro Bowl selection last year.

Stanley is a primary two-hand striker in pass protection, which bakes in an element of variance (e.g. quick losses around the edge). His power isn’t quite where it was pre-injury, but his burst and quickness are still above average. Thanks to sound footwork, positional leverage, adept use of hands and elite length, Stanley has reclaimed his status as an above average, high-quality left tackle.

11. Paris Johnson Jr. - Johnson is the youngest player on this list, but the more I studied his 2024 film, the more I became convinced that he is an ascending, deserving member of this tier above more seasoned players. Johnson still shows some bad habits common in younger, inexperienced tackles, such as taking the bait of advanced rushers that set him up with stutters, hesitations and feints that put him into compromising positions. The upside is that Johnson is a smooth, fluid mover with very good body control and recovery skills, elite length and strong hands once latched. These traits allow him to get out of a lot of bad spots.

Johnson is an athletic, sticky run blocker with pop in his hands. He can track targets on the move and has the balance to re-leverage, sustain and finish blocks. Purely off of what these guys have already put on film, Johnson can be slotted at the top of the next tier, but this list factors in age, traits, environment and trajectory to forecast performance in 2025 in addition to prior film. In 2025 he is also set to play the same position (LT) in consecutive seasons for the first time since high school. Johnson’s body of work led me to believe that him taking a step forward in 2025 is a promising bet.

12. Bernhard Raimann - In a similar vein as Matthews, Raimann is on the lighter side in terms of weight and has less than ideal arm length, which creates softer, more accessible edges than some of the higher tier left tackles. This concern is balanced out with his above average athletic ability, body control, solid play strength and excellent competitive toughness. Raimann is a sticky pass and run blocker who strains hard once latched to sustain and steer in pass protection. He displays enough power to displace, wall off and finish defenders at a high level in the run game. Raimann is also a ‘young 27-year-old’ with runway left to improve, considering he is entering just his fourth season after an obscure background where he played one year of high school football and a year and a half total on the offensive line at Central Michigan.

13. Garett Bolles - Bolles is the only left tackle who was eligible each year of these rankings and was not selected prior to this year. He is coming off of back-to-back 17-start seasons and a career-best year in 2024. Part of that can be attributed to the environment of Denver’s offensive line friendly scheme under head coach Sean Payton (play-action heavy, extensive roll-outs, screens, etc.), up-and-coming star OL coach Zach Strief and the stellar play of LG Ben Powers. It’s also a credit to Bolles minimizing glaring losses in pass protection while maintaining the edge he has always brought as a finisher. Bolles’ has a potent inside hand strike in pass protection that throws off the timing of rushers. He will still swing open his hips periodically to create a short corner for high-side rushers and dip his head prior to contact, but based on his 2024 film and the continuity around him entering 2025, he belongs in this tier.

14. Kolton Miller - Miller is coming off of a down year by his recent standard, which can be attributed to a couple of key factors. First, he missed the entire off-season while recovering from shoulder surgery and had just two padded practices before Week 1. This resulted in a slow, sluggish start that was exacerbated by a young, shuffling line around him, a poor running game and subpar QB play. Miller also was put in more obvious drop-back passing situations than any left tackle on this list, which is reflected in him being the only player with more than 60% (62.6% to be exact) of his snaps coming in pass protection. Miller did eventually regain most of his play strength, and, aside from a Week 17 struggle against Chase Young, was notably better over the second half of the season compared to the first. Based on Miller’s track record, traits, improved environment this year (QB, scheme) and renewed health, I feel strongly that this should be the floor for his expectations entering 2025.

Tier 4

15. Taylor Decker - Decker has more or less been the same solid-to-good caliber starter since he entered the league in 2016. He has also benefited from playing in former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s OL-friendly scheme the last few years, which has asked him to pass protect less than earlier in his career. When in pass protection, Johnson incorporates a heavy dose of play-action, RPOs and screens to make life relatively easy for the blockers. Decker has a low-hand carriage in pass protection that combines with his 6’7” frame to lead to inconsistent strike timing and leverage, leaving him slipped a little more often than others on the list.

Overall, Decker is a solid pass protector on an island who struggles against high-end competition (e.g. vs. Jonathan Greenard last year), but his above average run blocking skills keep him in the middle of the pack at his position.

LG Overview

Honorable mention: Falcons Matthew Bergeron & Chargers LG Zion Johnson. Neither are consistent enough right now as pass protectors, but both are young enough to still offer upside to crack this list in 2025. I also want to mention two younger players set to play left guard for the first time in their careers who each could vault into the top 15: Commanders Brandon Coleman & Saints Trevor Penning. Coleman had a solid year as a rookie left tackle in 2024, while Penning was an elite, dominant run blocker and below average, shaky pass protector at right tackle.

Tier 1

1. Joe Thuney - Thuney is the most decorated guard in football, and he was the best left guard in the league last year before switching to left tackle for the final seven games of the season. Over his first nine years, Thuney has amassed four All-Pro selections (2x First Team, 2x Second Team), six Super Bowl appearances, four rings and two missed starts. He’s been penalized five total times over his last three seasons. During his career, he has filled in at left tackle and center to get his team out of bad situations. He wins with an advanced understanding of leverage and impeccable technique that has consistently shown up on film for years. Considering the technically savvy ways he wins and his track record of consistency, even with the move to Chicago, I would expect him to hit the ground running inside Bears head coach Ben Johnson’s ultra-friendly OL scheme and put together another elite-level season.

2. Quenton Nelson - Nelson has made the Pro Bowl in each of his seven years, earned five All-Pro selections (3x First Team, 2x Second Team) and missed just four games. He has been at least a very good starter every time he’s stepped onto the field and has sustained an elite-level of play during the bulk of his career. Nelson is the prototypical guard in terms of physical traits, football character, mental processing and competitive toughness. Nelson is a dominant run blocker who creates massive lanes at all three levels and displays pristine spatial awareness, positional leverage and “feel” in pass protection. This allows him to diagnose with exceptional speed and accuracy to consistently be in the right position at the right time. There are some chinks in his armor that pop up against other elite competition, namely with his ability to brace and anchor (e.g. versus Cameron Heyward in week four). Overall, all signs point to him sustaining the same standard of play in 2025.

3. Tyler Smith - Smith incredibly just turned 24 years old this past April and is firmly a tier one left guard for the second year in a row. Smith offers the best blend of strength and power in the league at left guard due to the jarring power he delivers at the point of attack and his freaky ability to generate force through the ground in his anchor. There are still nuanced areas of his game that require improvement and refinement, including positional leverage and spacing to reduce getting edged too quickly and more efficiently pass off games that keep him away from the top spot for now.

Overall, Smith is able to match up with any defensive tackle in the league one-on-one and can spearhead a running game with impact blocks, solidifying his spot in the top tier yet again.

4. Landon Dickerson - There is no secret who Dickerson is as a player and how he wins. He is 6’6”, 340 pounds with elite play strength and light feet. Those traits manifest each week as a stout, firm anchor that eats the bull-rush and provides tangible stability to the integrity of the Eagles pocket. Dickerson also creates displacement in the run game and sets the tone physically with his ability to put defenders in the ground. Dickerson has the luxury of operating inside the most run-heavy scheme in the league, which resulted in him taking 100 or more less pass blocking snaps than the previous three players. That said, Dickerson is rarely beaten clean in pass protection. That is rare in of itself but even more so when you consider that his game is predicated off of size and physicality, which is exactly why he is deserving of being included in this tier.

Tier 2

What makes this tier interesting is that each of these two left guards played 2024 in dramatically different circumstances that had a direct impact on their play. This made it a challenge to determine the order, but the more I researched and watched the film, the more I became convinced that they both belonged above the rest of the pack.

5. Joel Bitonio - Bitonio is coming off a bit of a regression compared to his previous four seasons, but there is important context to point out to help determine what that actually means for his prospects in 2025. Bitonio operated in an extremely unstable, volatile environment that had him blocking for or alongside four different quarterbacks (none of which ‘helped’ the line), three different left tackles and inside a scheme that asked him to pass protect on 65.9% of snaps. That equaled 764 total pass blocking snaps, which was more than any offensive linemen in the league, and it was for quarterbacks that were actively skittish in the pocket.

With that in mind, Bitonio showed comparable ability to prior seasons. Assuming the situation around him improves moderately this season, he should be worthy of still being considered a tier two guard.

6. Ben Powers - Contrary to the disaster around Bitonio, Powers played inside a well-oiled machine from a schematic standpoint with an above-average, reliable left tackle next to him in 17-game starter Garett Bolles. Under head coach Sean Payton, the Broncos relied heavily on play-action, roll-outs and screens to ignite their passing game and featured rookie QB Bo Nix, who was excellent at not allowing pressures to turn into sacks. To Powers’ credit, he was very good and capitalized on the situation around him to put together his best season. After trending up for the last few years, he has earned the distinction of being included in tier two for the first time in his career.

Tier 3

7. Damien Lewis - From my recent article recapping Damien Lewis’ 2024 season:

“Lewis completed his fifth career season and first with the Panthers in 2024, starting 16 games at left guard inside Carolina’s pass-first (57-43 pass-run split), multiple run scheme. At 6’2”, 330+ pounds, Lewis is a stout, massive lineman with good play strength, physicality and heavy hands. He regularly creates jolt on contact to jar defenders back before creating initial displacement in the run game and when looking for work in pass protection. Lewis also has a sturdy, reliable anchor to sit down on power and defeat the bull-rush.

Lewis played a little below his peak 2023 season last year (closer to 2022), likely due to a lingering torn UCL injury suffered in Week 1. By the second half of the season, his play began to even out. Overall, Lewis has been a solid-to-above-average starter his entire career with 2023 serving as his best year on tape.

He’s 28 years old and entering his second season in a Panthers system with all five starters on the line returning. In today’s guard landscape, Lewis stands out as a throwback sort of player given his size, power and presence that offers clear, reliable ways to win for the foreseeable future.”

8. Peter Skoronski - Skoronski had a rocky first couple of years in his transition to left guard, but something clicked for him during the second half of last season, beginning in Week 8 against the Lions where he started to incorporate a potent jump set to eliminate the rusher’s runway. This helped mitigate his primary issue of getting edged and losing quickly in pass protection by allowing him to close space and dictate terms to rushers more often than not. Skoronski showed very good strike timing and placement operating within this new framework as a pass protector.

With his high-level body control, strong hands and recovery skills, there are indications that continual ascension is coming for Skoronski in 2025, especially considering the improvements made around him on the line and at QB as he enters his third season at left guard and second under Bill Callahan’s tutelage.