2024 NFL Draft interior offensive line rankings: Strong group of guards, centers

While the historic talent available at offensive tackle has understandably generated plenty of buzz in the build-up to the 2024 NFL Draft, their blocking brethren on the inside also include plenty of future starters.

This group is heavy on upside and position switches, though, and relatively lacking on sure things.

A year ago, seven interior offensive linemen were among the first 100 selections, with the Tennessee Titans making Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski the only blocker of the bunch to go in the first round.

It could be a similar story this year, with the best value at guard and center found on the draft’s second and third days.

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1. Jackson Powers-Johnson, Oregon: 6-foot-3, 334 pounds, Junior

Overview: Interior offensive linemen rarely leave for the NFL with just one year of starting action, but when that solitary season is as dominant as Powers-Johnson’s 2023 campaign, it is understandable. The Utah native signed with Oregon as a consensus four-star recruit three years ago and earned immediate playing time for a program that saw all five of its starting blockers either be drafted or signed as free agents by NFL teams. 

He proved an invaluable swingman the first two seasons of his career — logging starts at both guard spots and even defensive tackle — before seizing the starting center role in 2023 and earning First Team All-PAC-12 honors and an invitation to the Senior Bowl, where he proved just as dominant.

Strengths

• Has a prototypical build for the interior with a cinder-block-like torso and short, squatty limbs that help him win leverage battles.
• Broad as a barn door and complements this with impressive initial quickness and lateral agility for his frame, showing the ability to slide and mirror pass rushers much smaller than him.
• Devastating power to generate movement in close quarters, showing good hand placement and grip strength to latch onto opponents, as well as excellent leg drive and determination to finish blocks.
• Started at center in 2023 but often played as a guard in 2021-2022, starting three times (twice at RG, once at LG), as well as DT as a true freshman against Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.
• Just turned 21 in January.
• Dominant week of practice at the Senior Bowl.

Concerns

• Only a one-year full-time starter and played in a PAC-12 conference lacking top DT talent.
• Virtually all of his snaps at Oregon came while delivering the ball via shotgun.
• Occasionally gets complacent and too flat-footed in his retreat in pass pro when not covered up, needing to play more consistently on the balls of his feet and ready to react should opponents beat his guards.

Summary: Fans will fret more about JPJ’s lack of starting experience than NFL scouts will, as his tape is undeniable. The appropriately named Powers-Johnson is pro-ready right now and projects as a future difference-maker and longtime NFL anchor.

Grade: First Round

2. Graham Barton, Duke: 6-5, 314, Senior

Overview: Barton signed with Duke as a three-star recruit and was thrust into the starting lineup at center midway through his true freshman season after injuries were sustained by both of the upperclassmen ahead of him on the depth chart. He moved to left tackle as a sophomore and never looked back, starting every game in which he played the final three years of his career there, earning First Team All-ACC honors in 2022 and 2023, despite missing a couple of games due to an undisclosed injury. He was invited to the Senior Bowl — reportedly to play at center — but wasn’t able to participate due to injury.

Strengths

• Imposing frame for an interior offensive lineman with broad shoulders, a trim middle and thick limbs.
• Good initial quickness off the snap in pass pro and in the running game. He also brings the fight to opponents, grappling with strong, quick hands to snatch and sustain.
• Quality athlete. Can mirror in pass protection and shows both radar and agility in tracking defenders in space.
• Sinks his hips on contact, showing core flexibility, strength and balance.
• Four-year starter against top-notch competition with positional versatility.

Concerns

• Has a bit of a tweener frame with disproportionately short arms (32 5/8″) which could push him inside in the NFL.
• Resorts to holding when he gets in trouble, drawing six penalties in 2023 alone (more than anyone else on this list).
• Will require a thorough medical evaluation after missing multiple games in 2023 due to injury

Summary: Barton’s lack of ideal length may force a position switch in the NFL but it should not keep him from earning a top-50 selection. Even with the anticipated move, Barton ranks as one of the more pro-ready prospects in this class, winning with size, strength, athleticism and technique, while also showing the toughness and smarts NFL teams expect.

Grade: First-Second Round

3. Zach Frazier, West Virginia, 6-3, 314, Redshirt Junior

Overview: After a dominant prep career on the football field and the wrestling mat, Frazier signed with his native state Mountaineers. He then became the first true freshman offensive lineman at West Virginia to start since 1980. Frazier would go on to become a rock for WVU, starting 46 games over his four years in Morgantown and earning First Team All-Big 12 accolades from league coaches the past two seasons.

Strengths

• Well-built center with good weight distribution and reasonable arm length (32 3/8).
• Impressive snap-to-step quickness, scampering off the ball to turn and seal off opponents in the running game at the both the primary and secondary levels.
• Scurries well laterally while maintaining proper knee bend to mirror and anchor in the passing game.
• Unquestioned leader up front with excellent awareness and communication on blocking assignments.
• Four-year starter (past three at center, 2020 at left guard) with 46 career starts.
• Four-time high-school state wrestling champion at the heavyweight division.
• Understands leverage and shows impressive leg drive and balance in short yardage.

Concerns

• Relatively short frame makes him best suited as a center in the NFL.
• Quick rather than fast, relying more on his anticipation of where defenders are headed than mirroring their athleticism.
• Can get a little grabby at the second level, allowing his arms to get outside of his opponents’ numbers (potentially drawing flags in the NFL).

Summary: There may be other interior linemen in this class with flashier traits, but no one proved more consistent and reliable than Frazier. Among the “safest” picks in this draft class, regardless of position, Frazier is a Day 2 lock and longtime foundational piece.

Grade: Second round

4. Christian Haynes, Connecticut: 6-3, 318, Redshirt Senior

Overview: Interior offensive linemen rarely get top billing but Haynes deservedly earned plenty of credit at UConn, becoming the first Husky of the FBS era at any position to ever earn All-American honors in back to back seasons. He started a total of 49 games at guard for the Huskies, beginning his career at left guard but becoming a star on the other side over the past three years for former NFL head coach Jim Mora Jr. Haynes’ stellar college career continued at the Senior Bowl, where he was one of the week’s most impressive blockers.

Strengths

• Powerfully built bulldozer of a man with broad shoulders and wide hips.
• Shockingly quick off the snap, routinely beating his teammates and opponents off the ball.
• Combines explosive power, quickness and good pad level to consistently drive opponents off the ball in short yardage.
• Quick to the second level and arrives with a mission, seeking to knock someone — anyone, it seems at times — to the turf before the whistle is blown.
• Short, choppy steps to mirror in pass protection, while showing good hand strength and arm extension to rattle and ride rushers away from the ballcarrier.
• Seems to enjoy the physical nature of the position, pin-pulling and planting into the turf whenever possible and battling until the echo of the whistle.
• Started at guard but took snaps at center.

Concerns

• Slightly shorter than preferred at 6-foot-2 and half an inch. Also has a stubby, relatively unathletic frame, carrying some extra weight around his middle.
• Loads up to deliver smashing blows to opponents, but can get off-balance in doing so and unable to adjust to quick counter-moves.
• Blocks with a frenetic style that can draw penalties (nine over the past two years).

Summary: Haynes plays with a combative, chaotic style that is sure to make him polarizing to scouts, as he tosses opponents around the field at times like he’s auditioning more for professional wrestling than the NFL. His all-or-nothing style results in occasional dominance but teeters on the edge of the rules of engagement, too often drawing penalties for some coaches.

Grade: Second-to-third round

5. Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, Georgia, 6-3, 310, Redshirt Junior

Overview: Reliability personified, Van Pran-Granger started the past three seasons (46 games) consecutively for the two-time national-champion Georgia Bulldogs, earning the distinguished SEC Jacobs Blocking Trophy in 2023 as the top offensive lineman in the conference.

Strengths

• Built like a block of granite, with thick limbs and broad, powerful lower half.
• Comes off the ball low and hard with proper pad level and impressive snap-to-step speed, dictating the fight with defenders.
• Creates a surge in the running game with sheer power at the point of attack and efficient secondary-level blocks.
• Advanced awareness of blitzes and twists, adjusting nicely pre and post-snap to switch off responsibilities with teammates.
• Co-captain in 2023; characterized as Georgia’s “best leader, no question about it,” by star WR Ladd McConkey.

Concerns

• A block of granite but moves side to side like one as well, with heavy choppy footwork.
• Will be perceived by some as a center-only prospect.
• Can get over-aggressive with his initial punch and leave himself scrambling to recover when he misses.
• Clubs defenders more than he latches on, losing his grip at times.

Summary: They simply don’t come much safer than Van Pran-Granger, who checks every box there is at center, from both a tangible and intangible perspective. He isn’t a perfect prospect by any means — he gets beat occasionally, too — but the team that selects Van Pran-Granger will be doing so on Day Two with the expectation that he can challenge for the starting center role immediately.

Grade: Second-to-third round

6. Cooper Beebe, Kansas State: 6-3, 322, Redshirt Senior

Overview: The reigning two-time Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year, Beebe might just be the most celebrated of this year’s interior offensive line prospects. The Kansas City native redshirted his first season on campus but never left the field once he got on it for the Wildcats, starting 48 of a possible 51 career games. He earned all-conference honors each of the past three years, surrendering just five total sacks during that time (according to Pro Football Focus) while playing every position up front except center. Given his short arms, however, that may be the very position Beebe plays in the NFL.

Strengths

• Built like a chest freezer with a thick, compact frame and stubby, powerful limbs.
• Power stands out, as he creates an initial surge off the ball at the snap.
• Excellent balance and core power to anchor against bull rushers, showing impressive awareness and patience to see blitzers and loopers coming and meeting with a steel wall.
• Surprisingly agile for his square-ish frame (5.05, 5.03 in the 40-yard dash), efficiently slipping out of his stance on kickout blocks, showing a fighter pilot’s radar to lock onto targets at the second level.
• Possesses the awareness and communication skills to transition to center, if asked.

Concerns

• Played some at RT (and even LT) at KSU but is strictly an interior lineman against NFL competition due to his very short arms (31.5″).
• Beebe’s lack of length and grip strength shows up on tape, with him too often slipping off blocks and relying on his agility and tenacity to sustain.

Summary: Kansas State knew that Beebe was their best blocker and he was moved all over the offensive line as a result. Even when allowed to stick at left guard the past two seasons, he was often asked to kick out and essentially serve as a roaming lead blocker in KSU’s run-heavy offense, which finished 11th in the nation in rushing yards per game in 2023 (204.1). Long-armed DTs will give him some trouble, but Beebe can pinball in the running game with the best of them.

Grade: Third Round

7. Sataoa Laumea, Utah: 6-4, 319, Redshirt Junior

Overview: Few programs routinely churn out NFL prospects along the line of scrimmage like the Utes, and Laumea is as decorated as any of them, earning All-Pac-12 honors after each of the past four seasons. He signed with Utah as a decorated four-star recruit out of California and started five games at right guard in 2020 after redshirting his first year on campus. Laumea didn’t leave the starting lineup since, flipping between both spots on the right side of the line to start 49 games for the Utes before wrapping up his career at the Senior Bowl.

Strengths

• Impressive initial quickness for a man of his size, exploding out of his stance like a sprinter.
• Light on his feet and flexible, adjusting to moving targets nicely at the second level.
• Quick, active hands with enough arm length (33″) to potentially remain outside.
• Four-year starter with two seasons apiece at RT and RG.

Concerns

• Has a tweener frame and game, lacking ideal length to remain outside and the ballast preferred inside.
• Struggled a bit inside at right guard during Senior Bowl practices, misfiring on his initial punch and losing his anchor due to high pad level.
• Agile but not aggressive, relying on relatively soft slaps to opponents rather than latching on and controlling.

Summary: Laumea is a departure from the style of blocker we’ve often seen from Utah, relying more on his athleticism to block opponents than power and a mauling mentality. He has the size and athleticism to start in the NFL but will need to add heft if he is asked to move inside permanently.

Grade: Third round

8. Hunter Nourzad, Penn State: 6-3, 320, Redshirt Senior

Overview: Nourzad took an unusual path to the NFL, beginning as an Engineering major at Cornell, an Ivy League school, where he started two seasons at right tackle. His strong play on the perimeter made him much more respected by recruiters as a three-star junior than he was out of high school, despite the fact that he possessed good size and hailed from the talent-rich state of Georgia.

Nourzad joined Penn State and was immediately moved inside to left guard, sandwiched between 2024 projected first-round pick Olu Fashanu at left tackle and the Houston Texans’ 2023 second round pick, center Juice Scruggs. Despite starting just eight games in 2022, Nourzad earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten accolades at the new position and jumped up to Second Team honors after replacing Scruggs at center this past season.

Strengths

• Densely built frame with relatively high hips, a short torso, long arms (33 1/8″) and large hands (10 ¾”) which give him impressive balance and grip strength.
• Creative crab-walker through contact, maintaining excellent pad level and sliding well laterally to mirror defenders — a relative rarity for a former tackle.
• Complements his power with surprisingly light feet, sliding to the second level and showing good core flexibility to adjust to moving targets.
• Enters the NFL with 41 starts, with experience playing all five positions along the offensive line.
• Should be able to iron out the wrinkles in his game once he is allowed to stick to one position.

Concerns

• Might be more of a jack-of-all-trades, master of none.
• Still a work in progress at center from a technique-perspective after only switching to it full-time in 2023.
• While he’s quick to the second level, Nourzad needs a road map once there, as he currently lacks the anticipation of where defenders will be as the play develops.
• Further, Nourzad was late to adjust to twists and stunts against Michigan and Ohio State in 2023.

Summary: It isn’t often that one can call a four-year starter an ascending prospect, but it isn’t just Nourzad’s last name that is unique. The former zero-star recruit looked surprisingly comfortable in the close quarters of the interior for Penn State after his time outside at tackle against lesser competition in the Ivy League. There is no denying that Nourzad needs some polishing, but I like the confidence he showed in betting on himself to transfer to Penn State in the first place and believe most of the mistakes he made the past two years can be coached out of his game.

Grade: Third-Fourth Round

9. Dominick Puni, Kansas: 6-4, 323, Redshirt Senior

Overview: Literally and figuratively one of the biggest reasons why Kansas finished eighth in the country in rushing yards in 2023 (averaging 206 yards per game), Puni earned First Team All-Big 12 honors in 2023, his first year at left tackle for the Jayhawks after earning honorable-mention accolades at left guard in 2022. He transferred to Kansas for the final two seasons of his college career after initially starting at left tackle for Central Missouri, where his two older brothers played.

Strengths

• Well-built for the NFL, with good arm length (33 ¾”) and relatively light feet for a big man.
• Starting experience at left tackle and left guard at KU and performed well at center at the Senior Bowl, as well.
• Good initial quickness off the ball and takes sharp angles to the second level.
• Good lateral agility to mirror defenders.
• Can sink his hips and anchor against bull rushers.
• Rare six-year starter (first four at Central Missouri) with no known injury issues/

Concerns

• A jack-of-all-trades at this time and may need time to focus on one position to challenge for a starting role.
• Lacks ideal core flexibility to remain outside at tackle.
• Vulnerable to quick swim moves, as he fires his hands out at the snap but doesn’t always coordinate his footwork to match, leaving him lunging.

Summary: Puni is a versatile and battle-tested blocker who projects as an immediate swingman with starting potential at any of the three interior line positions, warranting a mid-round investment.

Grade: Third-to-fourth round

10. Jeremy Flax, Kentucky: 6-5, 350, Redshirt Senior

Overview: Flax signed with Kentucky as a four-star junior-college recruit back in 2020 and steadily developed into one of the top blockers in the SEC over the course of his career. He started each of the past two years at right tackle and turned heads at the Hula Bowl practices and during a “call-up” to the Senior Bowl.

Strengths

• Thickly built blocker who is surprisingly light on his feet for his bulk.
• Surrendered just two sacks while starting 12 games at right tackle in 2023.
• Powerful hands to jolt opponents and latch on, showing coordination of his upper and lower body to mirror.
• Sinks his hips on contact, winning the leverage battle and creating movement in the running game.

Concerns

• Loses pad level as he tires. May be a little heavier than optimal.
• Heavy-footed, shuffling laterally rather than smoothly gliding and will struggle with speed if he remains at tackle.
• Anticipates well but is just too slow to redirect, getting himself twisted up and off-balance — an issue that could be mitigated if moved inside.

Summary: Flax played almost exclusively at right tackle at Kentucky but he’ll be challenged by the NFL’s speed rushers. I think he can remain outside and contribute, but I see a quicker path to starting inside at guard. He possesses the frame and physicality to handle the move inside and showed greatly improved awareness in his second year as a starter, suggesting that he has the work ethic needed to make a position change.

Grade: Third-Fourth Round

Rob Rang is an NFL Draft analyst for FOX Sports. He has been covering the NFL Draft for more than 20 years, with work at FOX, Sports Illustrated, CBSSports.com, USA Today, Yahoo, NFL.com and NFLDraftScout.com, among others. He also works as a scout with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. Follow him on Twitter @RobRang.

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