2022 NFL Draft: Taking a look at the OTs this year and in past 10 drafts

Three offensive tackles went in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft. There were six chosen in the first round in 2020. Chances are there will be more than three but not as many as six in this year’s draft.

The potential also exists that Jacksonville tabs an offensive tackle with the first pick in the draft. Trevor Lawrence, last year’s overall No. 1, too often was running for his life last fall, and the Jags may figure drafting a bodyguard is the smart move.

We have produced a consensus top five at the position in this draft using the rankings of draft analysts Dane Brugler of The Athletic and Lance Zierlein of NFL.com as well as the ESPN consensus (from among analysts Mel Kiper, Todd McShay, Matt Miller and Jason Reid). We also take a look at the position in the past 10 drafts.

This is part 4 of an eight-part draft series leading into the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, which is Thursday, April 28 in Las Vegas. We looked at quarterbacks on Wednesday, running backs Thursday and wide receivers and tight ends Friday, with interior offensive linemen coming Sunday, defensive linemen Monday, linebackers Tuesday and defensive backs next Wednesday.

As a refresher, here are the underclassmen who are available in the draft. And if you want to look into the recruiting rankings of those taken in the past few drafts, you can have fun with the On3 NFL Draft by Stars database.

Consensus top 5 OTs in this draft

1. Ikem Ekwonu, NC State

The skinny: On3 Consensus three-star prospect, from Charlotte Providence Day School, in the 2019 recruiting class. Ekwonu’s nickname is “Ickey;” his film is anything but. His parents are from Nigeria and his full first name is Ikemefuna, which translated means “my effort will not be in vain.” Ekwonu will be the third NC State player to go in the first round in the past five drafts (joining C Garrett Bradbury in 2019 and DE Bradley Chubb in 2018). NCSU never has had an offensive tackle go in the first round.

2. Evan Neal, Alabama

The skinny: On3 Consensus five-star prospect, from Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy, in the 2019 recruiting class. Neal is from Okeechobee, Fla., on the north side of Lake Okeechobee, near the football-producing towns of Pahokee and Belle Glade. Neal will be the fourth Alabama tackle to go in the first round in the past four drafts, joining Jonah Williams (2019), Jedrick Wills (2020) and Alex Leatherwood (2021).

3. Charles Cross, Mississippi State

The skinny: On3 Consensus five-star prospect, from Laurel (Miss.) High, in the 2019 recruiting class. Cross will be the first Mississippi State player to go in the first round since the trio of Jeffery Simmons, Montez Sweat and Johnathan Abram in 2019 and the first Bulldogs offensive player selected in the first round since tackle Derek Sherrod in 2011. Sherrod is the lone MSU offensive lineman ever taken in the first round.

4. Trevor Penning, Northern Iowa

The skinny: On3 Consensus unranked prospect, from Clear Lake (Iowa) Newman Catholic, in the 2017 recruiting class. On3 mentioned Penning as an under-the-radar draft prospect in August, and he skyrocketed up draft boards throughout the season. He was a three-year starter at left tackle for the Panthers and is the school record-holder with a 625-pound squat. UNI has had 21 players drafted but none in the first round. Penning will be the sixth Panther selected in the past eight drafts.

5. Bernhard Raimann, Central Michigan

The skinny: On3 Consensus three-star prospect, from Delton (Mich.) Delton-Kellogg, as a tight end in the 2017 recruiting class. Raimann first played football as a 14-year-old in Austria and gained notice while playing tight end as a foreign exchange student. He didn’t move to tackle until after his first two seasons as CMU. Raimann could become the third first-rounder in Central Michigan history – and the others were OTs Joe Staley (2007) and Jake Fisher (2013). Fisher is the most recent Chippewas offensive player to be drafted.

First-round OTs in past 10 drafts

+ There have been 36 offensive tackles selected in the first round in the past 10 drafts.

+ Eight of those were On3 Consensus five-star recruits: Matt Kalil (2008 recruiting class), D.J. Fluker (2009), D.J. Humphries and Andrus Peat (2012), Laremy Tunsil (2013), Jonah Williams (2016) and Alex Leatherwood and Isaiah Wilson (2017).

+ The recruiting ranking of the other 28: Mekhi Becton, Taylor Decker, Austin Jackson, Ja’Wuan James, Luke Joeckel, Taylor Lewan, Zack Martin, Jake Matthews, Mike McGlinchey, Kolton Miller, Cedric Ogbuehi, Greg Robinson, Penei Sewell, Ronnie Stanley, Andrew Thomas, Jedrick Wills and Tristan Wirfs were On3 Consensus four-star prospects. Garett Bolles was a four-star junior college prospect. Andre Dillard, Kaleb McGary and Riley Reiff were three-star prospects. Christian Darrisaw and Justin Pugh were two-star recruits. Jack Conklin, Jake Fisher, Tytus Howard, Lane Johnson and Ryan Ramczyk were unranked prospects.

+ The conference breakdown of the 36: Thirteen were from the SEC; eight from the Pac-12; six from the Big Ten; three each from the ACC and independent ranks; and one each from the Big 12, MAC and FCS ranks. Howard, who went to Alabama A&M, is the FCS tackle.

+ Twelve tackles have been selected in the top 10.

+ Four times in the past 10 drafts, two tackles have gone in the top 10 – 2013, ’14, ’16 and ’20. In 2013, the top two picks and three of the top four selections were tackles.

+ At least two tackles have gone in the first round in each of the past 10 drafts. Six went in the first round in 2020. There were five in 2013 and ’14; four in 2016 and ’19; three in 2015 and ’21; and two in 2012, ’17 and ’18.

+ More than half of those who went in the first round (22 of the 36) went in the first half of the round.

+ Alabama has had four first-round tackles in the past 10 drafts, including each of the past three drafts. Notre Dame and Texas A&M have had three each.

Total OTs taken in past 10 drafts

+ There have been 207 offensive tackles selected in the past 10 drafts, with a high of 27 in 2021 and a low of 15 in 2027.

+ There have been 28 tackles selected in the second round of the past 10 drafts; that means almost a third (30.9 percent) of the tackles drafted in the past 10 years have gone in the first two rounds. In other words, teams feel the need to get their guy early.

+ There have been nine more first-round tackles than seventh-round tackles (27). And in the past five drafts, there have been just nine tackles selected in the final round – which could mean NFL teams don’t think there’s much value in a “developmental tackle” taken that late.

+ Alabama has had eight tackles selected in the past 10 drafts, the most of any school. Ohio State is second with six.

+ There have been as many tackles drafted from Western Michigan as from Michigan (three each). Michigan State has had just one (that was first-rounder Jack Conklin).

+ Other surprisingly low totals: LSU and Penn State with two each (the same number as Kansas); Kansas State, Miami, Oklahoma State (first-rounder Lane Johnson) and Texas with one each; and Maryland, Minnesota and Arizona State with none.

The 5-star offensive tackles

We looked at the five-star offensive tackles in the 2009-19 recruiting classes (those in the ’09 class were eligible for the first time in the 2012 draft and those in the ’19 class are eligible for this draft). We stuck with their recruiting designation: If they were listed as a tackle in the recruiting rankings at the time though they eventually may have been moved inside, they count as a tackle.

+ There were 38 five-star tackles in those 11 classes: two in 2009, one in ’10, three in ’11, four in ’12, two in ’13, two in ’14, three in ’15, four in ’16, seven in ’17, four in ’18 and six in ’19.

+ One five-star tackle from 2018 (Oklahoma’s Brey Walker) and three from 2019 (OU’s Wanya Morris, Tennessee’s Darnell Wright and Wisconsin’s Logan Brown) will be playing this fall. Morris signed with Tennessee before transferring.

+ Six former five-star tackles are in the 2022 NFL Draft. Cross and Neal were discussed earlier; the other four are Austin Deculus from the 2017 class, Cade Mays and Nicholas Petit-Frere from the ’18 class and Kenyon Green from the ’19 class. Green played almost exclusively on the interior at Texas A&M and will be drafted as a guard.

+ We mentioned the eight first-rounders who were five-star recruits earlier. Another 14 former five-star prospects have been drafted. From the 2010 class: Seantrel Henderson (seventh round). From 2011: Cyrus Kouandjio (second) and Christian Westerman (fifth). From 2012: Kyle Murphy (sixth) and John Theus (fifth). From 2013: Dorian Johnson (fourth). From 2014: Cam Robinson (second). From 2015: Chuma Edoga (third). From 2016: Landon Dickerson (second), Greg Little (second) and Landon Young (sixth). From 2017: Walker Little (second) and Trey Smith (sixth). From 2018: Jackson Carman (second). Some of those were drafted as interior linemen.

+ The six five-star tackles who have completed their eligibility and weren’t drafted: Mason Walters from the 2009 class; La’El Collins from the 2011 class; Damian Prince from 2014; Mitch Hyatt and Martez Ivey from 2015; and Foster Sarell from the 2017 class.