2025 NFL Draft: Best offensive tackles by run-blocking scheme

• North Dakota State's Grey Zabel stands out in every concept: He is the only tackle on PFF's big board who ranked in the top 10 in each of the featured schemes.

• Armand Membou, Wyatt Milum earned their high big board rankings: Both are top-100 players on PFF's big board after strong efforts in various run schemes, although Milum is likely a guard in the NFL.

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While running the football may seem basic at first glance, there are many different ways offenses can block to make those plays work.

We're looking at the best offensive tackles in the 2025 NFL Draft class in each run concept. A tackle must have played at least 25 snaps of each run concept to qualify, and only players represented on the PFF big board are featured. We will not include draw plays or trap blocks, as only one player on PFF's big board (Alabama A&M’s Carson Vinson) qualified for draw plays and none qualified for traps.

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Inside Zone

Rank	Player	Team	PFF Grade
1	Wyatt Milum	West Virginia	89.9
2	Armand Membou	Missouri	87.4
3	Hollin Pierce	Rutgers	84.8
4	Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson	Florida	80.5
5	Donovan Jackson	Ohio State	78.5
6	Bryce Cabeldue	Kansas	78.3
7	Trey Wedig	Indiana	75.4
8	Grey Zabel	North Dakota State	75.0
9	Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan	Oregon State	74.5
10	Chase Lundt	UConn	73.3

While West Virginia ran only 64 inside-zone runs with Wyatt Milum on the field in 2024, he made the most of his opportunities. His 28.1% impact run-blocking rate (positively graded run-blocking plays divided by run-blocking snaps) led the position by a comfortable margin, with Kansas’ Bryce Cabeldue at 22.7% coming in second place.

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Outside Zone

Rank	Player	Team	PFF Grade
1	Charles Grant	William & Mary	93.1
2	Jack Nelson	Wisconsin	90.4
3	Trey Wedig	Indiana	88.1
4	Chase Lundt	UConn	87.6
5	Xavier Truss	Georgia	86.7
6	Grey Zabel	North Dakota State	86.1
7	Logan Brown	Kansas	85.2
8	Marcus Mbow	Purdue	84.0
9	Cameron Williams	Texas	83.5
10	Kelvin Banks Jr.	Texas	82.4

It may have come against FCS competition, but Charles Grant was absolutely dominant on outside-zone runs, which force offensive linemen to cover greater distances than on inside-zone runs, in 2024. William & Mary ran a whopping 238 outside-zone runs with Grant on the field, the fourth-most among 2025 draft-eligible tackles and trailing only Chase Lundt among those on PFF's big board.

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Man/Gap

Rank	Player	Team	PFF Grade
1	Armand Membou	Missouri	85.1
2	Grey Zabel	North Dakota State	82.4
3	Wyatt Milum	West Virginia	81.7
4	Ajani Cornelius	Oregon	80.1
5	Donovan Jackson	Ohio State	79.8
6	Josh Simmons	Ohio State	79.0
7	Hollin Pierce	Rutgers	78.7
8	Josh Conerly Jr.	Oregon	76.5
9	Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan	Oregon State	75.8
10	Chase Lundt	UConn	73.7

Armand Membou is being talked about as arguably the best tackle prospect in this class, and for good reason. Not only is he an elite pass protector, but he is stellar in man/gap-blocking schemes. On 100 such snaps this past season, Membou had 21 positively graded blocks as opposed to just 10 that were negatively graded.

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Power

Rank	Player	Team	PFF Grade
1	Carson Vinson	Alabama A&M	70.6
2	Ozzy Trapilo	Boston College	68.2
3	Wyatt Milum	West Virginia	66.6
4	Ajani Cornelius	Oregon	64.1
5	Grey Zabel	North Dakota State	63.3
6	Gareth Warren	Lindenwood	58.5
7	Charles Grant	William & Mary	58.3
8	Cameron Williams	Texas	53.8
9	Josh Conerly Jr.	Oregon	52.4
10	Esa Pole	Washington State	51.7

Blocking grades on power run concepts tend to skew lower due to the degree of difficulty of the concept itself. Typically, power runs feature a backside pulling guard while the frontside tackle either has to reach inside or work upfield to a linebacker. Alabama A&M's Carson Vinson is the only tackle on PFF's big board who earned a PFF run-blocking grade above 70.0 on power runs in 2024. 

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Counter

Rank	Player	Team	PFF Grade
1	Trey Wedig	Indiana	77.3
2	Kelvin Banks Jr.	Texas	75.2
3	Anthony Belton	North Carolina State	75.1
4	Wyatt Milum	West Virginia	73.4
5	Grey Zabel	North Dakota State	73.1
6	Carson Vinson	Alabama A&M	70.2
7	Dalton Cooper	Oklahoma State	65.0
8	Marcus Mbow	Purdue	64.7
9	Charles Grant	William & Mary	64.5
10	Emery Jones Jr.	LSU	63.8

Counter run plays are similar to power run plays, but instead of one backside puller, we have two, often a guard and a tight end but sometimes also a tackle. Coming out on top among 2025 NFL Draft tackles on counter run plays is Indiana's Trey Wedig, whose 77.3 PFF run-blocking grade in 2024 led all draft-eligible tackles, not just the ones on PFF's big board. His 25% impact run-blocking rate tied Charles Grant for the best mark on PFF's big board.

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Pull Lead

Rank	Player	Team	PFF Grade
1	Logan Brown	Kansas	72.7
2	Ozzy Trapilo	Boston College	71.2
3	Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan	Oregon State	70.6
4	Grey Zabel	North Dakota State	69.5
5	Josh Conerly Jr.	Oregon	67.2
6	Ajani Cornelius	Oregon	65.9
7	Donovan Jackson	Ohio State	64.5
T-8	Kelvin Banks Jr.	Texas	59.0
T-8	Bryce Cabeldue	Kansas	59.0
10	Xavier Truss	Georgia	56.6

Pull leads, like power and counter, feature pulling offensive linemen, the main difference being that the pulling lineman is a frontside blocker, often looping around a tight end or a receiver. Kansas' Logan Brown edges out Boston College’s Ozzy Trapilo for the top spot in his first year with consistent playing time.

North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel didn’t come out on top in any of the run concepts, but he was the only tackle who featured in the top 10 for every single one. Couple that with a dominant Senior Bowl, and it’s no wonder that Zabel has received a lot of buzz as a potential first-round pick despite playing in the FCS.