2025 NFL Draft prospect profile – Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota

Is Ersery a hidden gem in this tackle class?

The offensive line class in the 2025 NFL Draft is a curious one. It isn’t bad, per se, but there are few prospects who fit neatly into the NFL’s archetypes for their positions.

But while the class might not have many potential stars, it could have the potential to produce a number of starters and some real hidden gems. One of those players who probably should be getting more attention is Minnesota left tackle Aireontae Ersery.

Ersery may not be a fit for every team, and some may view him as a right tackle at the next level. However, he’s an impressive prospect who should be on more people’s radar, and that includes the New York Giants.

Prospect: Aireontae Ersery (69)
Games Watched: vs. North Carolina (2024), vs. Michigan (2024), vs. Penn State (2024)

Measurables

Kent Lee Platte | RAS.football

Strengths

Best traits

• Size
• Play strength
• Competitive toughness
• Run blocking

Aireontae Ersery is a big, powerful blocker with great competitive toughness and a defined nasty streak.

Ersery has started 38 games at left tackle for the Golden Gophers, and comports himself well as a pass protector on the edge. He has smooth, quiet feet in pass protection, which allow him efficiently covering ground while staying balanced in his stance. Ersery has a nice wide base and generally maintains good leverage throughout the rep. He’s able to hit his landmarks and gets into position well against athletic edge defenders.

He has good hand usage, and while he doesn’t have particularly long arms at 33 inches, he maximizes his length with an accurate punch. He consistently seeks inside leverage and uses his great play strength to control rushers. Attempting to bullrush Ersery is a fool’s errand and he’s able to easily anchor against power and even stonewall nose tackles.

He’s also surprisingly athletic for a man measuring 6-foot-6, 331 pounds, and is able to get – and stay – ahead of the play on screen passes.

Ersery’s competitive toughness and play strength shine as a run blocker. Minnesota uses a high rate of downhill man-gap principles in their running scheme, and Ersery is a wrecking ball. He plays with good leverage and his power allows him to distort the line of scrimmage and generate movement. He consistently digs defensive linemen out of gaps and is capable of sending linebackers reeling if he meets them at the second level.

Weaknesses

Worst traits

• Lateral agility
• Zone blocking

There’s a lot to like about Ersery’s game, but he isn’t a perfect prospect. There are a couple issues that could give some teams pause, at least with respect to their own situations.

Most notably, while Ersery is a great linear athlete – particularly for his size – he struggles a bit with quickness and lateral agility. He can occasionally struggle against athletic defenders, particularly if they accelerate on the second or third step. Ersery has enough initial quickness to match a good burst off the line of scrimmage, but he doesn’t accelerate all that well. It doesn’t happen often, but he can see his knees straighten if he suddenly has to move quickly to catch up to a pass rusher, either losing his leverage or lunging.

Likewise, his hands can get wild if he’s asked to block on the move, particularly when moving laterally.

He also wasn’t asked to zone block often in the tape viewed. That, and the issues with his strike accuracy on the move, could knock him down some teams’ boards if they make heavy use of zone principles in their blocking schemes.

There were also a couple instances of Ersery being late off the snap, which teams will want to investigate.

Game Tape

(Ersery is the Minnesota left tackle number 69.)

Projection

Aireonte Ersery projects as a starting offensive tackle for a team that uses a power run game.

Ersery is much better blocking downhill than laterally, so teams that use a high rate of outside zone schemes could look elsewhere. However, teams that like to pair a power run game with a spread offense will find a lot to like with Ersery. He’s a reliable pass protector who’s held his own against some of the best pass rushers in college football.

Ersery has played almost every snap of his college career at left tackle, and he should be able to stay there in the NFL. That said, he’s a coordinated enough athlete that he should be able to transition to right tackle if that’s where his team needs him.

Does he fit the Giants?
Possibly, depending on what they want to do with their scheme

Final Word: A late first or early second round talent