Aireontae Ersery is one of the best movers at the OT position in this year’s NFL Draft class. Standing at 6’6” 330 pounds Ersery is a smooth athletic mover for someone as big as he is. The Redshirt Senior was a 3 star OL prospect coming out of Ruskin HS located in Kansas City, Missouri. The 77th ranked OT in the 2020 class committed to Minnesota in 2019.
He played in one game his freshman season, following up with redshirting in his sophomore season. His redshirt sophomore year Ersery started 13 games for the Gophers paving the way for an offense that tallied 2968 rushing yards in 2022. In his Junior year he started another 13 games at LT.
He once again looks to start a full season for the Gophers in his RS senior season. He shows his smarts on the football field picking up stunts but in the classroom he earned Academic All Big-Ten honors in 2021. On the field he was an All Big-Ten honorable mention in 2022, the next year (2023) he was an AP First Team All Big-Ten at Left Tackle.
Player Info
Name: Aireontae Ersery
Jersey: No. 69
Position: Offensive Tackle
School: Minnesota
Class: Redshirt Senior
Height: 6’6”
Weight: 330
Aireontae Ersery’s Strengths
Ersery is a nasty athletic run blocker. He has great hand placement and leg drive on gap scheme plays, even at 330 pounds he excels at climbing to the second level and getting into space on zone runs. In pass pro Ersery is a technician and plays with a “Pass Pro isn’t passive” mentality. He is aggressive and has a great anchor and body control. Setting vertically he gets deep and silences wide 9s and 5T.
You can tell watching him that he is smart by the way he passes off stunts and twists rarely being fooled by the defenses mind games. He’s careful and patient with his hands and when he gets them on the defenders pads he clamps and sits, sometimes even flashing a nice snatch trap. He would be able to come in to the NFL day one as a first rounder at guard and start right away.
Aireontae Ersery’s Weaknesses
While Ersery has a lot of good, he shows some areas that need work. While he has good vertical sets in pass pro, his feet can be slow and it can lead to getting beat inside. Being as tall and large as he is his pad level is going to naturally be a little poor even starting in his stance he appears high. If he doesn’t get good hand placement and gets shown a good speed move or hand swipe, he can lose the rep.
Draft Projection
Point blank Ersery is the number 1 OT prospect on my board right now. He has the versatility to play inside or OT in the NFL. He fits the mold of toolsy mean offensive lineman that the league is starting to lean towards due to the heavy gap scheme resurgence.
He would fit with a team that likes to get downhill and be in your face in the run game, but also a team that gets wide and out in space. A couple of fits I like for Ersery are the: Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
I believe Ersery has similar potential to Taliese Fuaga of the New Orlean Saints and think that he could be a long term starter for a team that needs a Left Tackle or Guard.
