2026 Nfl Draft Rankings Interior Offensive Line Yahoo Sports

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Jan 9, 2026, 2:36 PM

2026 nfl draft rankings interior offensive line yahoo sports

The 2025 NFL regular season is only a month old, but it’s never too early to look ahead to the 2026 NFL Draft. This year's crop of interior offensive line prospects doesn't exactly jump off the page, but it's typically a position where first-round picks don't necessarily need to be invested in order to find Pro Bowl-caliber... There are a couple of promising names who could end up pushing for first-round consideration, but the majority of the value in this group, as usual, is likely to come on Day 2 and... Interior offensive line refers to the center, left guard, and right guard positions. There will be prospects on this list who don't necessarily play an interior OL position currently, but still project better at one of those positions in terms of potential NFL success. Many players have played offensive tackle in college, but make a successful transition to one of the interior positions in the pros.

The first interior offensive lineman selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, Alabama's Tyler Booker, was the No. 12 overall pick to the Dallas Cowboys. At the very top, the 2026 NFL Draft class is shaped by defensive talent, particularly a good group of edge defenders and a nice crop of wide receivers and cornerbacks that occupy a significant... Overall, this class blends blue-chip defensive playmakers, a deep perimeter talent pool and a more meaningful cluster of quarterbacks worthy of early consideration than last cycle. For the full ranking of draft prospects — including three-year player grades and position rankings — click here. And if you want to go hands-on with the class, check out the PFF Big Board Builder to create your own rankings or fire up the PFF Mock Draft Simulator to run full mock...

Editor’s note: The analysis included here comes from Trevor Sikkema’s preseason scouting series, while the rankings themselves have been fully updated. This analysis is provided to give readers context on how these players were viewed entering the season. Ioane is a densely built guard prospect who does a lot of things well when projected to a downhill man or gap run-blocking scheme. Along with football, he grew up playing rugby and basketball, giving him an intriguing multi-sport background. He has a low, wide and powerful pre-snap stance, which gives him a good first step for reach blocks and power when blocking downhill. He does a good job of hand-fighting with coordination and balance to reposition in pass protection.

His wide base helps him neutralize some pass-rush moves, but he can struggle with lateral movements, such as when outside zone-run blocking and facing cross-face pass-rush moves. The 2026 NFL draft cycle is gaining steam. The college playoffs roll on until a champion is crowned on January 19. After that, attention turns to the all-star game circuit in late January. From there, the focus will shift to the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine, then to Pro Days and personal and/or private workouts. Below are the latest IOL rankings, grades, superlatives and potential NFL landing spots for the 2026 class.

1. .css-wrcrjw{margin:0;font-size:1.6rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;font-family:Proxima Nova,Proxima Nova Fallback Helvetica,Proxima Nova Fallback Arial;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;letter-spacing:0rem;line-height:1.92rem;color:var(--br--palette-foreground__link__secondary__default-mainChannel);font-size:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;white-space:normal;}.css-3nqh9c{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-color:rgba(var(--br--palette-primary-mainChannel) / 0.4);margin:0;font-size:1.6rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;font-family:Proxima Nova,Proxima Nova Fallback Helvetica,Proxima Nova Fallback Arial;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;letter-spacing:0rem;line-height:1.92rem;color:var(--br--palette-foreground__link__secondary__default-mainChannel);font-size:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;white-space:normal;}.css-3nqh9c:hover{text-decoration-color:inherit;}.css-lu48cp{margin:0;font:inherit;color:var(--br--palette-primary-main);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-color:rgba(var(--br--palette-primary-mainChannel) / 0.4);margin:0;font-size:1.6rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;font-family:Proxima Nova,Proxima Nova Fallback Helvetica,Proxima Nova Fallback Arial;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;letter-spacing:0rem;line-height:1.92rem;color:var(--br--palette-foreground__link__secondary__default-mainChannel);font-size:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;white-space:normal;}.css-lu48cp:hover{text-decoration-color:inherit;}Francis Mauigoa, Miami (8.0)2. Olaivavega Ioane, Penn State (7.9)3. Emmanuel Pregnon, Oregon (7.5)4. Chase Bisontis, Texas A&M (7.5)5. Keylan Rutledge, Georgia Tech (7.1)6.

Logan Taylor, Boston College (7.0)7. Brian Parker II, Duke (7.0)8. Gennings Dunker, Iowa (7.0)9. Jake Slaughter, Florida (7.0)10. Connor Lew, Auburn (7.0)11. Logan Jones, Iowa (6.8)12.

Sam Hecht, Kansas State (6.8)13. Beau Stephens, Iowa (6.6)14. Garrett DiGiorgio, UCLA (6.5)15. Trey Zuhn III, Texas A&M (6.5)16. Parker Brailsford, Alabama (6.4)17. Iapani Laloulu, Oregon (6.3)18.

Kade Pieper, Iowa (6.2)19. Pat Coogan, Indiana (5.9)20. Keagen Trost, Missouri (5.9) .css-8b3r8y{margin:0;font:inherit;font-style:italic;}NFL teams with a top potential IOL need: Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals,... Editor’s note: This is the sixth installment of Dane Brugler’s 2026 Summer Scouting series. Previous rankings: Edge rushers | Running backs | Defensive tackles | Tight ends | Linebackers

Of Alabama’s three interior offensive line starters from last year, one (Tyler Booker) became the highest-drafted guard in the 2025 NFL Draft class and the other two (Nos. 2 and 3 on these early rankings) are well-liked prospects in the 2026 class. However, it is an Auburn center who kicks off this list at No. 1. (Note: Asterisk represents draft-eligible underclassmen. Heights and weights are what NFL teams have on file for each player, with a “v” representing verified measurements and “e” for estimated measurements.)

Whether he is climbing to the second level or working laterally to protect the pocket, Lew plays with above-average quickness and control in his movement patterns. He is tough and physical and has a solid anchor, but it’s his slide mirror coupled with his blocking awareness that stand out most. The negative reps on Lew’s tape usually are a result of his initial strike being slightly off the mark. Though he plays with balance and hand strength (he’s a former high school wrestler), his recovery skills are inconsistent, especially in the run game. Going into his second season as a full-time starter, I expect this part of his game to continue to get better. As we plug along this college football season, I want to start getting the names of some of the top players that should be in the 2026 NFL Draft.

This week, I look at the top 15 offensive linemen you should have on your radar this season. If you’re looking for the position groups I’ve covered previously, click here. On average, over the 7 rounds of the NFL Draft, we see the following numbers of players taken at each position: Typically, you’ll see more offensive tackles get drafted on day one, and I suspect this draft will be quite the same. If you’ve looked at my most recent mock draft, I had a few go in round one, and right now I am leaning towards probably 4 getting drafted night one in this draft. The pair from Utah will definitely make a case for being the top taken, but both could hear their names called early in 2026, as they are extremely talented tackles.

I will say, Lomu is probably the one with more room to grow and will probably need more development to be ready to start, but both are franchise cornerstone-type players. Francis Mauigoa is a player who may wind up having to move inside at the next level, as I think he’s a bit too big to be a tackle but a great size for... He’s extremely athletic for his size, and he’s very quick when you watch him play, especially when he has to get to the second level and beyond. Kadyn Proctor is a massive human being, who you’ll hear the words road grader thrown around with him, with amazing athletic ability for someone his size. Obviously, at 6’7”, he’s going to have to work to keep his pads low and handle some of the faster edge rushers at the NFL level, but playing in the SEC, he’s getting plenty... So, your favorite NFL team missed the playoffs.

Don't worry - that happens to more than half of the fanbases in the league. With some more luck (and potentially a few key changes), things could turn around next season. One of the best ways to make those changes comes through the NFL Draft. The 2025 season saw multiple impact players drafted over the first two rounds. Quarterbacks Jaxson Dart, Cam Ward and Tyler Shough look more than capable as starters heading into 2026. Will Campbell helped a turnaround in New England and wide receivers Tetairoa McMillan and Emeka Egbuka look like perennial Pro Bowl contenders in the NFC South.

An injection of young talent through the draft could be the key for teams to turn things around next season and the 2026 NFL Draft offers a lot to like at multiple positions. We’re through the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff and bowl season is wrapping up. Most of these prospects have finished putting out tape in their college careers, so it’s time for me to officially unveil my updated position rankings for the 2026 NFL Draft. Today I’m ranking my top 10 interior offensive linemen, and as always, this article includes both guards and centers. Right now, there is one college tackle I’m projecting to guard, but that list may grow as we get official measurements through the Combine and see where these players are getting reps during the... This is a pretty solid class of interior linemen, all things considered.

I have first-round grades on a pair of guards at the top, there are lots of solid Day 2 prospects in this group, and the center class has three immediate NFL starters in the... These aren’t ever the sexiest positions to pick, but teams looking for upgrades along the interior have options. If you’d like to check out my other updated position rankings, you can do so below: A three-star recruit from Washington, Ioane didn’t start playing football at all until his sophomore year of high school — apparently without his parents’ knowledge, who preferred for him to focus on academics. Once he arrived at State College, he redshirted in 2022 before playing some spot snaps in 2023. As a redshirt sophomore, he earned second-team All-Big Ten recognition after splitting time as a starter between left and right guard, even getting a few snaps at center.

In 2025, Ioane was named to the first-team All-Big Ten after another great season, this time just at left guard.

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His Wide Base Helps Him Neutralize Some Pass-rush Moves, But

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