Despite adding several bodies to the offensive line during free agency, the Arizona Cardinals still need to find a genuine solution to their right tackle problem.

While Elijah Wilkinson performed better than you would expect for the Falcons last year as he filled in for Kaleb McGary and both Matt Pryor and Oli Udoh have NFL experience at the position, they are nothing more than stopgaps and additions for depth. They also have 2025 UDFA Josh Fryar on the roster who had to deputise at both tackle spots last season as well as former fifth-round pick Christian Jones.

Even with Monti Ossenfort’s flimsy free agency record, there should be no reason to believe that he intends to enter training camp with Elijah Wilkinson and Josh Fryar battling it out to be the starter at right tackle. They desperately need to address the position to both strengthen their offensive line overall in the here and now and to give their “quarterback of the future” (whether that player is added to the team this year or in 2027) the best possible fighting chance at being successful.

It hasn’t been a surprise to see the team linked with using their first-round pick on the position. While the more exciting options early on in the draft are found on the defensive side of the ball, especially in the less lucrative positions, trying to wait until the start of Day 2 or even trying to trade into the back half of the first round for a tackle will be like playing the draft version of Russian Roulette. The supply does not meet the demand this year and Monti Ossenfort could be left standing about with his dick in his hand if he tries to wait things out.

In the first of several positional spotlights that will be coming over the next few weeks in the lead up to the draft, I’ve looked at the options that are open to the Cardinals at tackle in the draft. Diving into the class, the whole supply and demand argument is incredibly stark especially when you begin to limit things down to prospects with experience at right tackle. There are a lot of career lefties in this class, as well as a host of “they’ll be guards as a pro” prospects.

The Cardinals may be open to switching a rookie from one side of the offensive line to the other but it’s not something that I like which has meant that we’re left with SEVEN players who fit the bill as potential options to fill the hole at right tackle (in my opinion).

Travis Burke – OT – Memphis – RS Sr. – 6’9″ – 315 lbs – 34 1/4″ arms – 10 1/8″ hands – Age Undisclosed

A player who is gathering some momentum with top-30 visits to both the Eagles and Giants, Travis Burke brings the violence on every single down. There is no other tackle prospect in this class that is as lethal of a finisher as Burke. If he gets hold of you, you are going down.

Burke’s finishing ability is aided by incredible grip strength and well placed hands to dictate and dominate defenders. Despite coming in at a towering 6’9″, Burke possesses quite fluid hips which are best displayed when he slams into the point of attack and when he produces significant torque to overwhelm and ground his opposite number.

After transferring from FIU, where he racked up over 1000 snaps at left tackle, Burke started 11 games at right tackle for Memphis before his season was cut short following a foot injury. Over the course of those 11 games, the redshirt senior was culpable for 3 sacks as he got used to the change of position.

His physical attributes are obvious in the run game, with an 84.2 PFF run blocking grade, where he is able to drive defenders backwards and open up wide lanes for his running back.

While he is starting to creep up some analysts boards, there are some major concerns that initially led Burke to be cast as a potential seventh-round pick.

He is repeatedly late coming out of his stance and not by a fraction. He sometimes looks like a Grandad getting out of his favourite chair. This leads to a vulnerability to speed rushers that he will not get away with at the NFL level. Also, being such a large human, his lack of short area quickness means that rushers can get around him even when he is set well and on time, if they’re able to evade his vice-like grip.

There have to be some concerns about the level of opposition Burke has faced as well given that he hasn’t been an unstoppable force at the position, though he flashed some high-level work against Arkansas this year.

If the bad habits in Burke’s game are coachable issues rather than simply physical limitations, Burke could represent a sneaky cut-price pick-up.

Dametrious Crownover – OT – Texas A&M – Sr. – 6’7″ – 336 lbs – 35 3/8″ arms – 10″ hands – 24 years old

Dametrious Crownover put his best foot forward at the Senior Bowl after a disappointing season for Texas A&M. In practices, the 24-year-old was able to display his significant size and power to swallow up a host of notable pass rushers.

The former 3* recruit who was originally recruited by the Aggies to play tight end has long arms and broad shoulders which he uses to envelop rushers. We spend so long debating the importance of arm length when it comes to tackles and EDGE defenders (it has been THE topic this year) but this is one of the reasons why. Crownover has a physical advantage over the majority of defenders that he encounters and he’s able to use that length to force them wide or to make that initial contact before they’re able to get anywhere near his chest.

The most important thing about Crownover’s physical advantages though is that he wants to use them. There is no lack of effort on his tape, he is able to shift people in both pass protection and the run game and he can generate force at the point of contact. Dametrious Crownover is not a passive football player. He plays hard and doesn’t give up when sustaining blocks.

However, he did take a step back in 2025 in almost every available metric. He gave up more sacks (2 in 2025, 0 in 2024), hurries (23 in 2025, 17 in 2024) and penalties (11 in 2025, 3 in 2024). His struggles were reflected in his PFF grades which all took a hit with an overall grade of 65.2 (75.3 in 2024), 72.4 for run blocking (76 in 2024) and 58.4 in pass blocking (69.1 in 2024).

The main concerns for Crownover lie in his wide-hand placement and his lack of knee bend. The wide hands allow rushers a direct avenue into his chest and partly played into his penalty count skyrocketing, as he had to rely on holding to stop defenders from beating him and reaching the quarterback. He doesn’t yet have the hand technique to effectively combat intelligent rushers and give away his chest like that.

His lack of knee bend, which isn’t uncommon given his size, results in a shaky anchor at times and allows him to be driven right back to collapse the pocket.

As with Burke previously, being such a big piece of kit, Crownover also suffers from a lack of short area quickness which can lead to choppy footwork as he scrambles to get himself set.

While he is a work in progress, Crownover’s physical profile and determination make him an intriguing option, especially if the Cardinals feel comfortable with Elijah Wilkinson holding the fort early in the season.

Spencer Fano – OT – Utah – Jr. – 6’5 1/2″ – 308 lbs – 32 1/8″ arms – 9″ hands – 21 years old

Nobody has been subject to the arm length discussion in this year’s tackle class quite like Spencer Fano. Depending on who you ask, the former 4* recruit could be the best tackle prospect in this class or he could be a center and that is primarily based on his arm length.

It’s definitely a discussion that is not only worth *us* having, but will be one that teams are having. Since 2011, Fano’s 32 1/8″ arms rank in the 3rd percentile amongst all draft-eligible tackles. That will be a deal-breaker for people especially coming off a Super Bowl where Will Campbell’s lack of length at the position was so widely debated and criticised.

However, there is a pathway to Fano being able to succeed at tackle in the NFL because he is such an athletic freak for the position.

The Utah man blew everybody away at the Combine with his silky smooth maneuvers as he danced his way though every drill as he posted a 9.80 RAS score which ranked 33 out of 1606 OT from 1987 to 2026. He was “green” in the vertical and broad jumps, as well as the 3-cone and in every aspect of the 40 yard dash. Only his height, weight and shuttle prevented him being a history-maker.

That explosivity and speed show up on the field too. His has fantastic movement and range of motion, allowing Fano to mirror defenders like Mr Mime, and his fluidity particularly in his knees and hips mean that he can be out of his stance in a flash while maintaining a compact and disciplined posture.

As part of a unit that was named Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week four times in 2025, Fano didn’t give away a single sack or QB hit over the past year on his way to being named Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year.

With over 2100 offensive snaps for Utah, Fano has developed quick and intelligent hands that enable him to dictate how a rep will play out and his build gives him a natural advantage in both maintaining good pad level , a firm center of gravity and good contact balance to help in bracing against more powerful opposition.

When Fano does find himself in trouble, he can call upon elite short-area quickness to recover and his effort levels are admirable. He strains every sinew to sustain his blocks and he never takes a snap off even when faced with lower-level/”easier” assignments. He is the kind of guy you want on your team regardless of the hangups around his physical makeup.

That combination of speed and effort make him an effective part of the run game and he’s capable in both gap and zone schemes with PFF crediting him with a 79.4 zone grade and a 79.9 gap grade in 2025.

The arm length and overall build are concerns though. When Fano doesn’t time his strikes perfectly, he leaves his chest open and can be beaten on the inside. This happened against David Bailey when Utah played Texas Tech and the Utah QB only just got the ball away in the nick of time. There’s no second chance for him to truly pop something out in the way that someone like Monroe Freeling can who has well over 2 and half inch longer arms than Fano.

He can be beaten by power as well because he is a smaller tackle. It is just physics and that challenge is only going to get tougher in the NFL. Where you could hope that a prospect would be able to add muscle mass in the pros, Fano’s lean build points to a young man that might have reached his physical peak already.

Fano is a fascinating prospect because his overall talent is worth a top 10 pick in this draft but if you want him to be a tackle, you are banking on him overcoming some historical shortfalls. That could be a risk worth taking for some teams because at worst, you’re going to end up with an excellent interior option and you could potentially snag a good tackle if Fano can overcome those shortfalls.

That’s not a risk that I think Monti Ossenfort, whose job is potentially at risk, will take at #3 though the conversation becomes completely different if the team find themselves in the position to trade down.

Monroe Freeling – OT – Georgia – Jr. – 6’7″ – 315 lbs – 34 3/4″ arms – 10 3/4″ arms – 21 years old

It is easy to see why Monroe Freeling has generated so much buzz amongst fans and analysts alike over the past couple of months. From a physical standpoint, he has everything that you want from an offensive tackle.

Height? He’s six foot seven so check. Build? With nearly 35 inch arms and nearly 11 inch mitts, that’s a check. Explosive? With a 33.5″ vertical and 9’7″ broad jump, that’s a check. He tested fantastically at the Combine with a 9.99 RAS ranking him as the 2nd best OT out of 1606 since 1987 (though he didn’t do the agility tests). His PFSN Combine comparison is Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas. You can’t teach that.

On the field, he’s shown that same level of athleticism where he’s almost a cheat code at the second level and in open space, and he shows a keen desire to use his length to gain an advantage against rushers. He has time on his side as a true junior.

Also, he comes from a powerhouse school where he’s had to face some of the best competition in the country, helping the Georgia offence to rank as 3rd overall in college football for first downs (316) and first in fourth-down conversions (76.5%) during the regular season. What’s not to love?

*clears throat for Gordon Ramsay impression*

IT’S RAW!

Despite his clear athletic gifts, whichever team selects Monroe Freeling in April is banking on his upside rather than gaining a finished product and that’s not always a guarantee to come to fruition.

Freeling is 6’7″ and he plays like it both positively and negatively. Yes, he does try to use that length well which is great but he also plays upright which offers a massive target for rushers to exploit and it weakens his base. He is also guilty of being too eager to use his length and can often find himself lunging and becoming overextended and off-balance because of it.

The 21-year-old’s hand usage is rudimentary at best and his footwork, though nice and nimble, is undisciplined under pressure and also contributes to him becoming unbalanced when trying to sustain blocks. He spends far too much time on the floor after falling off blocks. He’s also very easily manipulated in the run game which can be seen by his low 53.5 gap grade.

He gave up two sacks and 6 hurries on the year.

Unlike his physical and athletic positives, they are things that can be taught and it’s important to note that he improved throughout the season. It’s also promising that he has remained relatively clean in college, giving away just 4 penalties in three years. Other prospects with more experience than him are far more prone to false starts and holding than he is, which is a good sign for someone who is still learning the position.

Although Freeling has primarily played at left tackle for the Bulldogs (1368 snaps), he has filled in at right tackle on a number of occasions (287 snaps) to a solid standard. He’s the outlier in this tackle class that I wanted to crowbar in here even if it means flipping him from his natural side just to have him on the field because of the upside that is there.

Progress isn’t linear which means there’s such a high degree of variance around Monroe Freeling and his NFL future.

Round 2, Pick #34: Max Iheanachor – OT – Arizona State – Sr. – 6’6″ – 321 lbs – 33 7/8″ arms – 9″ hands – Age Undisclosed

It is quite easy to see why Max Iheanachor has become a firm favourite amongst the wider draft community and the Arizona Cardinals fanbase rocketing up draft boards to being discussed as a potential late-first round option.

Having only started playing football in junior college in 2021, emigrating with his family from Nigeria at age 13 and focusing on basketball and football (the round ball variety), Iheanachor established himself as the starting right tackle for a hugely successful ASU team showcasing an NFL-ready blend of size and athleticism.

His basketball background comes to the fore when Iheanachor is able to show off his lateral quickness and light feet which give him the ability to mirror rushers and seal off the run. His athletic prowess was on display at the Combine where he ended up posting a 9.86 RAS which ranks 23 out of 1606 OTs since 1987.

He combines that natural athleticism with a willingness to meet the rusher in hand-to-hand combat, where his active hands are used to deflect attempts by rushers to dictate the rep and gain control.

For someone that you could easily peg as a “finesse” tackle based on his athletic ability and genetic makeup, Iheanachor presents a competitive streak and isn’t afraid to properly finish blocks, grounding defensive lineman and exerting dominance. At the Senior Bowl, he was at the centre of a couple of the more “tasty” moments with shoving matches breaking out between the ASU man and his opposite numbers who were frustrated at the extra sauce Iheanachor was leaving on reps.

The Senior Bowl itself was a microcosm for Iheanachor’s development at ASU. On the first day, he suffered a couple of bad beats to more experienced peers but from Day 2 onwards it was hard to find a single one-on-one where Iheanachor didn’t win overwhelmingly. He has consistently improved during his time at ASU.

2025 was Iheanachor’s best of his limited career where he didn’t surrender a single sack and was culpable for just 3 QB hits, as he saw career best PFF grades of 72.5 (overall), 78.3 (pass block) and 66.8 (run block), being named Second-team All-Big 12.

That limited experience of the sport, never mind the position, does show up though and is a major reason he isn’t spoken of even more highly. His overall understanding of the game can be exploited by stunts as he isn’t up to scratch with recognising things pre-snap and while he does have those active hands, intelligent rushers can get into his chest by beating him to the punch when his timing is off.

When this does happen, he is guilty of holding rather than trying to disengage which has led to penalties in the past (he gave away 8 penalties in 2025). When under stress, his technique can go out of the window and his smooth footwork can become plodding and panicked.

He is also prone to exposing his inside shoulder, perhaps due to feeling that he needs to overcompensate and shrink the target he presents to make up for that lack of timing, which means he can be attacked inside. Zion Young made the most of this during Day 1 of Senior Bowl practices.

There should be caution when looking at Iheanachor. While he has shown a natural talent and quick uptake to the tackle position, development is not linear. Just because he has got to this level in a short period of time doesn’t mean he can go on to greater heights.

We know there is interest from the Cardinals, with Iheanachor telling media that he has a visit coming up with the team during ASU’s Pro Day and while he will need a lot of work, particularly to bring his confidence when under stress up to where it is when things are going well, it’s a gamble worth taking especially for a Cardinals team that have a gaping hole at right tackle.

Francis Mauigoa -OT – Miami – Jr. – 6’5 1/2″- 329 lbs – 33′ 1/4″ arms – 10 5/8″ hands – 20 years old

I really enjoy “scouting” prospects. It’s incredibly fun to break down potential, get wrapped up in the excitement about what a young player could become, finding out little quirks about their personalities and being able to discover new names from smaller schools that might go on to become household names in the NFL.

I mean this in the most respectful way possible when I say that Francis Mauigoa might be the most boring player I’ve watched this year. He’s just good. His highlights are winning exactly how an offensive tackle is taught. He isn’t an overwhelming physical specimen or athletic marvel. He’s just good at his job and that’s an undervalued trait, particularly in this draft class.

At just 20 years old, Mauigoa has amassed over 2800 offensive snaps. He walked into Miami as a true freshman, saw an opening at right tackle and took it. He was included in All-ACC honours in each of his three seasons as a Hurricane and this year was named a consensus First-Team All-American while also winning the ACC Jacobs Blocking Trophy.

Mauigoa has a thick lower half which gives him an elite anchor. He doesn’t move. He absorbs contact, says “okay” and makes you try again. He is able to knock defenders back at the point of attack and has a strong grip to then move them wherever he damn well pleases. With his sturdy base, Mauigoa generates a good deal of power into his leg drive to shift people out of the way as a pass protector and in the run game.

The confidence that comes from being a long-time starter has exuded into his game. 2025 was his best year in terms of dictating terms in pass protection, getting rushers to bite and he consistently struck first without falling into the trap of leaning over.

Mauigoa gave up 3 sacks, 5 QB hits and 26 hurries over the past two seasons.

There has been some talk about the former 5* recruit being moved inside as a pro and his response of “there are five positions. I’ll make sure I take one of them” at the Combine highlighted his professional and competitive demeanour. However, there are some valid reasons why the very best version of Francis Mauigoa in the NFL might be as a guard.

He is an adequate athlete, with decent speed and explosivity, but nothing compared to some of his contemporaries in this class. That can flash up at times when he is trying to redirect. As well, as he isn’t an overwhelming physical specimen, he does give rushers a shorter corner to bend round when they do get an angle on him. In these instances, he can leave his inside shoulder exposed. This is particularly noticeable against speed rushers.

His feet aren’t always in synergy with his upper half which can end up with him being off the mark and overextended when run blocking, forcing additional energy and reliance on his powerful legs to rectify the error, and also giving defenders more of chance to break away.

That’s really it with Francis Mauigoa. While there aren’t any headline otherworldly traits to hang your hat on, there aren’t any glaring holes in his game either that should cause huge concern. There are things to tighten up but that’s it. I told you he was boring. The Cardinals picking him at #3 would be boring too. Sometimes boring is good.

Blake Miller – OT – Clemson – Sr. – 6’7″ – 317 lbs – 34 1/4″ arms – 9 3/4″ hands – 22 years old

If the Arizona Cardinals want someone with experience at tackle in the draft, they could do worse than Blake Miller. The former high school wrestling champion started every single one of the 54 games Clemson participated in during his four-year career, breaking the school record for career snaps from scrimmage (3778 offensive snaps).

That experience is showcased in Miller’s performances where he displays well-timed hand usage, high football IQ to recognise stunts and a patience that only comes with having seen everything that the college game has to offer. His best work is incredibly clean.

He makes a point of consistently targeting the outside shoulder to steer rushers away from the pocket and both hands are in sync – some tackles are prone to having a “lazy” weak hand and only using one hand – and is comfortable when dealing with a range of counters.

His RAS of 9.9 from the Combine ranked 17 out of 1606 from 1987 to 2026.

A First-team All-ACC selection in 2025, Miller gave up 2 sacks and 2 QB hits this past year and was probably the most reliable part of a bizarre Clemson team that looked like a completely different outfit to the 2024 version despite returning the majority of their core players.

The main criticism of Miller in recent years has been his play strength, something that he has done everything in his power to rectify, and he would’ve been pleased to show those improvements off a little when he benched 32 reps at the Combine (second amongst competing Olinemen). On tape, he uncorks well into contact to create that initial pop and his anchor has improved year upon year. He wants to be a badass and he’s slowly getting there.

When he is outmatched from a strength point of view, Miller can anchor well enough to “die slowly” rather than allow himself to be blown up. However, the 22-year-old could still do with getting stronger and it’s difficult to know how much juice there is left to squeeze there.

With all of that experience, it is worrying to see him still be playing so upright after four years of college football which leaves him susceptible to the push-pull technique and despite being a good athlete his footwork is still more choppy than gliding so he doesn’t always have an ideal base when facing initial contact. Some of that might come from trying to compensate for his strength by trying to get an edge on his opponent in other ways.

That choppy footwork also makes him a target for top rushers to get joy from moves across his face because he can’t always keep the action in front of him, something which Rueben Bain Jr. did to great effect.

That’s the unspoken issue with prospects with such vast experience. While you can hope that a rookie who only has a year or so under their belt will magically leap through the development milestones, on the flipside an uber-experienced player may have already hit their ceiling. Sometimes, a Blake Miller is who Blake Miller is always going to be.

Then again, Blake Miller might be good enough for the Arizona Cardinals.

Image Credits: RAS.Football/@MathsBomb, Memphis Athletics, Texas A&M Athletics, Utah Athletics, Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images, Chris Jones – Imagn Images, Icon Sportswire, Megan Briggs/Getty Images