Eric Froton breaks down the top 10 offensive tackles in the 2024 NFL Draft, headlined by Notre Dame’s Joe Alt and Penn State’s Olu Fashanu.
1. Joe Alt, Notre Dame
The son of 13-year former NFL OL John Alt, Alt (6-9, 321 pounds) played tight end in high school before promptly transitioning to tackle upon enrolling at Notre Dame. He acclimated to the position quickly enough to start the final eight games of ND’s 2021 campaign, logging 614 snaps and allowing three sacks despite being a true freshman. His sacks allowed total would practically evaporate over the next two seasons, allowing just one sack and 13 pressures in 1,600 snaps during that span while anchoring a strong Notre Dame offensive line that ranked 13th nationally in sack rate in 2023. In addition to grading out as the top OT in the country with a 90.7 PFF overall grade, Alt was the only OT who graded in the 85th percentile or above in both run and pass blocking in 2023.
Here’s a highlight reel with some of Alt’s impressive athletic capabilities on display:
#NotreDame OT Joe Alt. 6’8 315.
— Kyron Samuels (@kyronsamuels) February 23, 2024
• Tall frame + long arms.
• Consistent base.
• Gap scheme run blocking +.
• Mirror w/ feet in pass pro ++.
• High floor overall.
• Only 20 years old. pic.twitter.com/Yo1TtCITAK
The All-American showed out in testing as well, posting the highest Relative Athletic Score (RAS) in the 2024 tackle class with a superb 9.91 RAS Combine performance. He has a long, linear frame that allows him to pack on functional mass while still maintaining impressive lateral quickness and burst. Alt’s flexibility and wide base allow him to both recover and anchor extremely well, which is a result of his freakish athletic gifts for the position. His 34 ¼” arms and 10” hands are an acceptable length, but not elite, while his elevated football intelligence allows him to sniff out the best laid pass rushing plans and stifle them. He could stand to be a bit stouter on contact, as he will give ground to some of the more prominent power rushers he faced this year. However, Alt almost always is able to reset and stiffen up before any damage is done in the backfield. Alt has all the tools necessary to be a decade-long, plug-and-play NFL left tackle.
2. Olu Fashanu, Penn State
A Washington D.C. native, Fashanu (6-6/312) was rated as a high three-star recruit in the 2020 prep class and took a redshirt his freshman season before earning a modest 85 snaps in his second year. He earned the starting LT spot in 2022 and immediately thrived as a blindside protector, allowing just one hit with zero sacks before going down for the year after eight games. Despite the early exit, Fashanu’s easy athleticism and foot speed made him very tough to beat on the loop, despite facing off against a slew of very talented Big Ten EDGE rushers.
Though he flashed enough in his redshirt sophomore season to draw first-round buzz, 2023 was the year that solidified Fashanu’s place among the elite OT prospects. He earned the fourth-highest PFF pass-blocking grade in FBS with a miniscule 1.9% pressure rate last year, while allowing zero sacks in his entire collegiate career. While the PSU sentry’s pass pro acumen was Big Ten caliber right out of the box, his run blocking prowess took a little more time to develop. His 59th percentile run block grade in 2022 was a disappointing mark, and all five penalties he committed during his Penn State tenure were on run plays, which is understandable for a leggy 6-foot-6 young man who is growing into his frame and learning proper technique. But what stands out is the leap he made in that department this year, pacing the Nittany Lions’ OL with a pristine .3% blown run block rate on 338 run snaps.
In this clip Fashanu battles Ohio State’s highly regarded EDGE group:
Penn St. OT—Olumuyiwa Fashanu is an uber athlete at the position. He is impressive with a full range of tools.
— Full-Time Dame 💰 (@DP_NFL) November 3, 2022
His recovery speed & COD skills is outstanding! I was blown away by his abilities! pic.twitter.com/O3sAEPff6g
His lightning quick burst off the snap allows him to cut off EDGE defenders on outside runs and race to beat defenders to his spot on the move. Fashanu’s improvement helped PSU average 2.95 line yards per carry on standard downs, which was the 10th best mark out of 133 FBS programs. While Fashanu’s 9.44 RAS checks most of the testing boxes, his diminutive 8.5” hand size jumps off the screen when compared to his fellow hulking contemporaries. Despite that potential flaw, Fashanu projects as a solid NFL left tackle with above-average movement capabilities.
3. JC Latham, Alabama
A true super-heavyweight LT prospect who checked in at 6-5, 342 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine, Latham boasts raptor-like 35’⅛” arms and a pair of massive 11” hands that helped him stifle even the most dominant SEC opponents. He was rated as the top tackle prospect and fifth best player overall from the 2021 recruiting class but spent his freshman year at RG before making a permanent move to RT as a sophomore.
Latham took to his new position quickly, improving his blocking efficiency rate from 96.4%-to-98.8% while allowing zero sacks and just one QB hit in 486 pass reps. The transition to RT wasn’t without some growing pains though, as Latham committed 11 penalties which was the second-most of any Power Five tackle in 2022. His play elevated to All-American levels in 2023, with Latham leading the Tide with a superb 0.6% blown block rate on run plays, while allowing three hits and two sacks on 429 pass reps. He slashed his penalties from 11-to-7 and earned a career high 81.9 PFF overall grade while anchoring a young Alabama OL that started a true freshman at LT in Kadyn Proctor, for the first time in HC Nick Saban’s illustrious career. Proctor’s 3.9% pressure rate was more than double Latham’s (1.9%), so his steady presence at RT was instrumental in first-year starting QB Jalen Milroe’s growth as the season progressed.
For some perspective, watch Latham unleash a flurry of pancakes against Texas A&M:
33 seconds of JC Latham introducing Texas A&M defenders to the ground. pic.twitter.com/HJPTrseJhU
— ImBearingDown (@ImBearingDown) March 15, 2024
Though Latham didn’t test at the Combine, he smoothly navigated a series of positional drills that quelled any concerns teams may have had about Latham’s athleticism. With a double wide XXL frame, Latham has unnatural mirroring ability and explosiveness for his size. He throws a punishing initial jab that would rival world class sumo wrestlers and once he gets a grip of defenders they become instantly neutralized. He does have a tendency to lean into contact and can be beaten with speed around the hoop, leaving him vulnerable to inside counters against upper echelon pass rushers. A difference-making road grader in the run game with a hybrid guard/tackle build, Latham is a topflight offensive lineman with inside/outside versatility that you don’t see very often.
4. Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State
Coming out of Tacoma High School in 2020, Fuaga (6-6, pounds) was barely recruited by Power Five programs. Solely a RT for the duration of his college tenure at OSU, Fuaga played only sparingly until 2022 when he earned an 80.4 PFF offensive grade over 810 snaps, while allowing 11 pressures and zero sacks.
The Second Team All-Pac-12 RT entered 2023 with confidence and it showed, as he solidified himself as an elite mauler by leading the nation with a 91st percentile run block grade to go with a microscopic 0.6% blown run block rate. While Fuaga was at his best when clearing a path for Beavers RB Damien Martinez, there is still work to be done with his pass sets. This video does a good job highlighting some of Fuaga’s difficulties in pass protection:
10 reps of a reoccurring theme (range, outside hand, COD) on Fuaga's film that led me to feel best about a projection inside to guard where this relative concern would be mitigated while his considerable strengths would be maximized (think an Iupati type of player). pic.twitter.com/JLn6Rae6Ie
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) March 12, 2024
Despite not allowing a single sack in his Oregon State career, his 80th percentile pass block grade ranked 37th nationally. While Fuaga is nearly impossible to defeat with power thanks to his noticeably wide frame and tree trunk lower half, he had difficulty staying in front of technically refined rushers like Washington’s Bralon Trice who maneuvered around the mammoth tackle with superior hand technique.
His 93rd percentile 32” vertical and 90th percentile 9-3 broad jump were both incredible marks, as was his 1.77-second 10-yard split (83rd%), which illustrates the advanced movement skills he brings to the run game.
He explodes off the ball and quickly climbs to the second level, hunting for prey and crushing anything in his wake. Toss in a pair of vice grip-like 10.125” hands to complete Fuaga’s 9.60 RAS, and you’ve got a powerful RT with balance, lateral agility and an enticing all-around NFL-ready profile. He’s not going to be in every team’s plans due to the likelihood that Fuaga stays at RT, but he will still be highly sought after regardless of his eventual position.
5. Amarius Mims, Georgia
A five-star, top-10 recruit from the 2021 prep class who arrived on campus with high expectations, Mims logged 121 snaps as UGA’s second-team RT during their initial national championship run. He saw consistent part-time action during the 2022 regular season and was ready to step in and play major snaps in Georgia’s three postseason contests, with 154 of his 385 total snaps occurring in those high-leverage playoff games. He didn’t allow a single pressure versus LSU and Ohio State while recording a 98.9% blocking efficiency rating with four hurries and an 80th percentile pass block grade in his sophomore campaign.
Mims won the starting RT job this year and was on his way to a standout season, earning 83rd percentile pass block grades in each of his first three games of the year, before going down with a high-ankle injury that required tightrope surgery. He wouldn’t return until Week 11 when he rotated in for 35 snaps against Ole Miss and started two more games before exiting the SEC Championship game against Alabama after just 11 reps. On a per-play basis, Mims was almost impenetrable, allowing just one QB hurry on the season with zero hits, penalties or sacks in 297 snaps. His 99.7% blocking efficiency mark led the entire Power Five last season as the brick-shaped RT finally was able to unleash his tantalizing physical gifts, albeit in a restricted fashion due to injury.
This rep against Tennessee illustrates the raw talent for the tackle position Mims possesses. First, he forklifts the defensive end trying to cross his face, before gracefully sliding to meet the stunting blitzer:
Amarius Mims and Tate Ratledge combine for the devastating finish on the stunting DE. MY GOODNESS pic.twitter.com/SJd97BjCEk
— Daniel Harms🏈 (@InHarmsWay19) March 12, 2024
It’s easy to see why Mims is viewed as a first-round caliber talent after his Combine performance, measuring in at 6-7, 340 pounds with absurd 36.125” arms and 11.25” hands. His 9-foot broad jump is an 89th percentile mark, while his 5.07 40-yard dash placed in the 88th percentile for a strong 9.56 Relative Athletic Score. His 340 pounds is evenly distributed throughout his frame in a linear manner that helps Mims absorb collisions with even the most powerful opponents and not budge an inch.
His ability to stall out even the fiercest bull rush is special, while his elongated arms allow Mims to initiate first contact with stiff strikes that bludgeon pass rushers into submission. His footwork and technique are still a work in progress and his playing time came exclusively at RT, but Mims has a bevy of special traits that teams covet in shutdown, bookend tackles that will make him a valued commodity come draft day.
6. Tyler Guyton, Oklahoma
Originally an enrollee at TCU who was rated as a mid-three-star DT prospect, Guyton (6-8, 322 pounds) is one of the few first-round caliber 2024 tackles who transferred from their original school. He was originally pegged as a LT by the Horned Frogs staff, logging 31 snaps on the left side over his first two seasons before transferring to Norman, Okla., in 2022. Oklahoma OC Jeff Lebby planted him at LT throughout fall camp with Guyton starting OU’s opener against UTEP before OC Lebby hit the eject button and moved him over to RT where he remained for the duration of his Sooners tenure.
Guyton shuttled in and out of the starting lineup as he acclimated to his new position, recording 352 snaps at RT while allowing two sacks and one hurry despite missing a few games due to injury. He finally settled into a starting role this year and stayed mostly healthy logging 663 snaps with zero sacks, three hits and nine hurries. Though he allowed 12 total pressures on the year, none of those miscues resulted in an interception or an incompletion.
There was no escape on run plays when the mammoth tackle was bearing down on defenders, as Guyton was credited with a 0% blown run block rate on 303 opportunities, an achievement that speaks for itself.
Guyton’s Combine performance only solidified his blue-chip status with a 1.76-second 10-yard split (87th%), 7.5-second 3-Cone (89th%) and jaw-dropping 34.5” vertical jump (98th%) for a superb 9.70 RAS. Blessed with impressive agility, Guyton’s flexibility and fluid hips allow him to cut off defenders on run plays and beat speed rushers to the outside. If anything, his quickness is so pronounced that savvy EDGE rushers will bait him on the loop to induce oversets and cross his face.
Watch him refuse to take the bait on that inside jab-step and glide over to engage with a stable base underneath him:
Oklahoma RT Tyler Guyton #60
— Daniel Harms🏈 (@InHarmsWay19) March 14, 2024
Just draft Oklahoma offensive lineman, man. pic.twitter.com/GcTs2nNZhE
He races to meet defenders and climbs to the second level in a flash, while still remaining balanced and locked onto his target. His pad level can get high at times, exposing his chest and leaving him susceptible to bull rushes when he isn’t centered. He only started for one season in his four-year collegiate voyage, so Guyton is still coming into his own and will likely have some early growing pains, but the pieces are in place for him to develop into an athletic mauler if handled properly.
7. Troy Fautanu, Washington
A four-star OG from the 2019 prep cycle, Fautanu (6-4, 317 pounds) effectively took redshirts in his first two seasons, logging just 12 offensive snaps in that span before being called upon to start three of the seven games he played in 2021. That year the Henderson, Nev., native split 201 reps between LT/LG receiving a respectable 70th percentile PFF overall grade, though his 3.3% blown block rate indicated there was still refinement needed in his game. The arrival of HC Kalen DeBoer changed the entire program and elevated Fautanu along with it, as he proceeded to allow just two sacks over a staggering 1,941 snaps during HC Deboer’s two-year reign in Seattle that culminated in a National Championship appearance.
Fautanu’s ascent began when he improved noticeably in 2022 by cutting his blown block rate to 1.3%, then went on to post the fifth-best pass blocking grade in FBS this past season (88.2) in addition to leading the Huskies with an efficient 0.6% blown run block rate. There was a “bend, but don’t break” element to Fautanu’s season, as he struggled with UCLA’s trio of Laiatu Latu and the “Pass-Rushing Murphy Brothers” (identical twins Grayson and Gabriel Murphy), allowing four pressures. While Fautanu allowed 23 pressures and a somewhat elevated 2.7% pressure rate, he still allowed only three hits on star QB Michael Penix Jr. in 584 pass reps.
Here’s a great example of Fautanu’s ability to deftly parry the defender’s long-arm technique and ride him into the ground:
you can tell Troy Fautanu is from Vegas with his slot machine pull technique pic.twitter.com/qRbUa51P9u
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) March 12, 2024
The third-team AP All-American was remarkably consistent this year, recording a 71st percentile pass block grade in every game on the schedule, while never allowing more than two pressures in any contest for the Pac-12 champs. His Combine testing confirmed his freakish speed/power capabilities, testing in the 94th percentile on both the broad (9-0) and vertical jump (32.5) along with a blazing 5.01-second 40-yard dash (96th%), combined for a 9.45 RAS score.
The one glaring question about Fautanu is his relatively sawed-off proportions, as his height (6-4) is an 8th percentile measurement among NFL tackles and puts him in a similar position to former Northwestern LT/G swingmen Rashawn Slater and Peter Skoronski as super athletic OLs who were dominant LTs in college with traditional guard bodies.
Fautanu utilizes balance, flexibility and active hands to stay between his man and the quarterback in pass pro which helps offset a tendency to get dislodged by stiff bull rushes. He could stand to be more precise when seeking out second-level blocks and is older than most of his OT prospect contemporaries, as he turns 24 in October. Fautanu has tweener dimensions which could eventually kick him inside, but he has the talent to be a staple in the lineup at either tackle or guard for whichever team selects him.
8. Graham Barton, Duke
Barton (6-5, 313 pounds) was considered the 14th-best high school guard in the nation when he enrolled at Duke in August 2020. A former lacrosse player, Barton was awarded Duke’s Falcone Award for his commitment to strength and conditioning as a freshman when he played 430 snaps at center when their starter went down. He slid over to his permanent LT role in 2021, but struggled in pass protection allowing six sacks, 20 pressures and a 3.5% blown block rate in 747 snaps.
It all came together for Barton in 2022, improving to 98.7% block efficiency with just two sacks and eight hurries to go with a sensational 88.2 PFF overall grade that ranked fourth among all FBS tackles that year. In fact, he was one of only two tackles nationally that earned 85th percentile grades in both run blocking and pass protection that season, which solidified his excellence in both phases of the game.
If you want a 2:17 tour-de-force of the juggernaut that is Graham Barton, watch him collide, over-and-over again, with a fearsome Clemson front in this clip:
Graham Barton: pic.twitter.com/d2SLl9hzku
— isiah! (@IsiahLimo) March 14, 2024
Last year a nagging lower-body injury cost Barton four games and compromised him in multiple others, especially against UNC when he allowed four of his 11 total pressures on the year. The First-Team All-ACC LT still managed to blow just 1.2% of his blocks and graded out at a 79th percentile level despite being hobbled. He didn’t test at the Combine, but Barton’s 32.875” length arms are amongst the shortest in the class and will likely relegate him to a guard/center role in the NFL, but since he played tackle for the last three years in college, he’s grouped with the OTs in the ranks.
Barton fires off the ball with extended range on run plays that will be an asset on the interior. What he lacks in length, he makes up for with flexibility, athleticism and aggression. An even weight distribution throughout his frame helps him drop anchor and his hands grip like talons despite lack of ideal size (9.375”). Elongated EDGEs can beat him to the punch and dictate the terms of the encounter, driving him into the backfield and creating pressure. Barton is a seasoned, battle-tested OL who can play anywhere on the line and should provide an instant upgrade at whichever line position he is called upon to play.
9. Jordan Morgan, Arizona
A local product of Marana, Ariz., Morgan (6-5, 311 pounds) arrived on campus as an unheralded low three-star recruit. He rapidly worked his way up the depth chart, starting his last two games at LT as a true freshman before an injury shortened his 2020 campaign to just two games, both of which he started. In 2021 new HC Jedd Fisch arrived on campus to rebuild the program following HC Kevin Sumlin’s regime.
Morgan took his lumps playing for a 1-11 team in his first full season as a starting LT, allowing five sacks and 27 pressures in 706 reps to go with a 53.6 PFF overall grade. The leap came in 2022 when he produced a 97.8% block efficiency rate and allowed just one sack, two penalties and 17 pressures while recording an 82nd percentile pass block grade and achieving AP First Team All-Pac-12 accolades for his standout play. That’s the good news. The bad news is he tore his ACL late in the season against UCLA in Week 11, which threatened to derail his 2023 season.
Morgan made a miraculous recovery by posting the sixth highest PFF pass block grade in the country (87.3) with a 0.0% blown run block rate in 311 opportunities last year. He allowed just two sacks with a 98.3% blocking efficiency rate and had one of his best games against UCLA’s ferocious EDGE group that boasts Laiatu Latu and the Murphy brothers, all of whom will be drafted in 2024. His 1.69-second 10-yard split is an elite 98th% mark and his 9-foot broad jump ranks in 87th percentile among historical NFL draft tackle prospects. Morgan’s 9.10 RAS proves that he is fully recovered from his late 2022 ACL tear and ready to compete for a starting spot as a rookie, despite lack of ideal length (32.875” arms). His arm length didn’t matter when he rode out UCLA star edge Laiatu Latu on this outside move:
Jordan Morgan, #77 Arizona LT, does an excellent job baiting Latu into the cross chop, then taking his hand away and smothering the 1st round pass rusher. This was a good battle pic.twitter.com/Z9AsnebSo9
— Daniel Harms🏈 (@InHarmsWay19) March 14, 2024
His educated, active feet in pass protection and a rapid burst off the snap helps him seal his man on run plays. He’s flexible enough to eat a bull rush, recover and reset anchor thanks to his piston-like legs. However, he has a tendency to overset when rushing to cutoff speedy EDGE defenders, leaving him open to inside counters. Morgan has developed into an intriguing tackle prospect who excels in pass protection and is likely pegged a late first or early second-round selection.
10. Kingsley Suamataia, BYU
A five-star blue chip recruit and cousin of Lions OT Penei Sewell, Suamataia originally attended Oregon for an eight-month stint before entering the transfer portal midway through his freshman season. It took him less than two weeks to choose BYU which is close to his hometown of Orem, Utah. The 6-4, 326-pound LT logged 687 snaps, while allowing zero sacks and 11 pressures to go with his 98.4% pass blocking efficiency rate for the Cougars. He was effective in both phases, earning a 75th percentile grade for his run blocking and an 81st% pass protection grade while receiving Freshman All-American recognition in 2022.
While Suamataia faced just five Power 5 programs in the previous campaign, BYU transitioned to the Big 12 in 2023, which resulted in the hulking left tackle facing Power 5 teams in nine of the 11 contests he appeared in. Despite the jump in competition, he excelled in pass protection, giving up two sacks and 13 pressures for an 86.1 PFF pass block grade that ranked ninth-best in FBS. That being said, Suamataia struggled in the run game with a troubling 3.1% blown run block rate, which fueled his 52.9 run block grade. For perspective, 52.9 was the lowest run grade for any of the top-50 graded pass protectors this year.
Suamataia’s 9-foot broad jump charted in the 87th percentile, while his impressive 31 bench reps ranked third amongst his 2024 OL counterparts and in the 94th percentile of historical NFL Combine tackles. His 9.38 RAS verifies the BYU bookend’s athletic credibility, as the thickly built tackle has the requisite mean streak to go with seamless feet/hands coordination to disrupt most pass rushers. He has plenty of core and grip strength to hold the point of attack against stout IDLs and stay centered. He moves with a coordination that belies his massive body, recording a 1.73-second 10-yard split that ranks as a 93rd% mark. Here’s a good example of Suamataia’s speed off the snap:
I'd be curious if the Lions would have any interest in BYU OT Kingsley Suamataia. Checked into the Combine at 6'4 5/8" and 326 pounds with 34 1/4" arms. Has experience at LT and RT but I think he could play guard, if needed. Will only be 21 and is cousins with Penei Sewell. pic.twitter.com/clW4R1efwO
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) March 12, 2024
He can knock EDGE rushers off their line with a well-timed punch and is malleable enough to play the left or right side when called upon. His 34 ¼” arms are acceptable but not ideal, and his feet can drag in recovery. Overall, Suamataia is a thickly built swing tackle who can offer above-average pass protection on both left or right side, albeit with somewhat limited range on run plays.
