Offensive Line U: ESPN releases updated Top-10 for best OL producing schools
ESPN has dropped updated Position U rankings to provide answers to the age-old question of which school is the best at producing talent at each position, including offensive line.
The metrics used for the rankings include college accolades, NFL Draftees and NFL stats through the first five years of a players career. For schools like Notre Dame, they used projected all-conference honors since they would be at a disadvantage in tallying up scores. For players who attended multiple schools, the NFL Draft and NFL stats numbers used are for the team’s last school.
There are a lot of candidates to consider for the top spot. But the No. 1 team has the trophies, All-Americans and NFL success to be a fairly clear Offensive Line U.
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama can lay claim to being Position U for a lot of different spots but its claim as Offensive Line U is quite strong. Crimson Tide players have won six Outland Trophies, five of them going to members of the offensive line. Only Nebraska has more Outland Trophies in its history with nine players winning and six of them on the offensive line.
But the Cornhuskers reign on the award is long gone. They have only one winner in the past 25 years: Ndamukong Suh back in 2009. Meanwhile, all of Alabama’s Outland Trophy winners have claimed the award during that same time frame.
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
The last NFL Draft have all come and gone with at least one Ohio State offensive lineman being selected in the NFL Draft. This past year had Paris Johnson going sixth overall to the Arizona Cardinals.
Ohio State hasn’t had an Outland Award winner since Orlando Pace in 1996 but the lack of awards does not mean they haven’t developed elite talent. Four of the past eight Rimington–Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year, which goes to the best offensive lineman in the Big Ten, were Buckeyes.
3. Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin has a long standing reputation in the Big Ten and across the country for the quality of its offensive lineman. The Badgers have seen an offensive lineman drafted in seven of the last nine NFL Drafts.
A major point in Wisconsin’s favor as being Offensive Line U is that it is the alma mater of Joe Thomas. Thomas is arguably the greatest offensive lineman in the 21st century. The 2006 Outland Trophy winner, Thomas was a six-time first-team All-Pro and 10-time Pro Bowler.
4. Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma has had six consensus All-Americans on the offensive line this century with 2004 Outland Trophy winner Jammal Brown leading the way. But its the NFL production of its offensive lineman that can give it a claim on the title.
Just in the past few seasons, the Sooners fans have watched Orlando Brown make three Pro Bowls, Creed Humphrey win a Super Bowl and emerge as an elite center and Lane Johnson became a first-team All-Pro tackle.
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame has consistently produced offensive lineman for years that has continued no matter who is the head coach or who is coaching the offensive line. The unit won the Joe Moore Award in 2017.
The 2018 NFL Draft, coming right after that group award, showcased how talented that group was in recent memory. Guard Quenton Nelson went sixth overall and tackle Mike McGlinchey went ninth overall.
6. Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan offensive line has been arguably the best in the country the past two seasons. The group as a whole are the back-to-back Joe Moore Award winners, the first team to win the award for best offensive line unit two years in a row.
They did it last year with center Olusegun Oluwatimi also winning the Rimington Trophy and the Outland Trophy. He was the third Michigan winner of the Rimington Trophy and the first center to win the Outland since 2005.
7. USC Trojans
Wide receivers have been the NFL Draft headliners for USC that past two seasons. But three years before that, the first Trojans selected in the draft were all offensive linemen.
Chuma Edoga was picked in the third round in 2019, Austin Jackson was selected in the first round in 2020 and Alijah Vera-Tucker was snatched up in the first round in 2021. Dating back to 2008, five offensive tackles have been chosen out of USC in the first round of the draft. That is the most of any position group at the school during that time.
8. Georgia Bulldogs
While the defensive line is the part of the line of scrimmage that garners the most attention at Georgia, the Bulldogs have a formable offensive line pipeline as well. The team has had at least two offensive lineman drafted each year since 2020.
During the 2020 NFL Draft, the team’s two first round picks were both offensive lineman in Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson. This past year saw Broderick Jones go at No. 14 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
9. Iowa Hawkeyes
Much like their Big Ten West rival Wisconsin, Iowa has the reputation as an offensive line powerhouse thanks to a consistent stream of large Midwest boys who step on campus. The reputation plays out.
From 2003-2022, there were 11 Hawkeyes drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft. One was a linebacker, one was a defensive end, three were tight ends and six were offensive lineman. The most recent draftee was center Tyler Linderbaum, a unanimous All-American and Rimington Trophy winner.
10. Florida Gators
The posterboys of Florida‘s offensive line over the past two decades are the Maurkice Pouncey and Mike Pouncey. The Pouncey brothers were both All-Americans, first rounders and multi-time Pro Bowlers. Maurkice also won the Rimington Trophy in 2009.
O’Cyrus Torrence is the latest star offensive lineman for the Gators. He was a consensus All-American this past season before being selected in the second round of the draft.
The offensive linemen might not get the most love on the football field but they are clearly key to a team’s success. Of the seven schools to win multiple national titles this century, five of them featured on this list.