Trent Williams, Laremy Tunsil Headline Top 10 NFL OT Rankings by Coaches, Execs

The debate over who the best offensive tackle currently in the NFL among people within the league comes down to Trent Williams of the San Francisco 49ers and Laremy Tunsil of the Houston Texans.

In a survey of coaches, scouts, players and executives about the top-10 offensive tackles conducted by ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Williams came out on top in the rankings after being named a first-team All-Pro in each of the past two seasons.

Tunsil finished second, followed by Tristan Wirfs of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles teammates Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata to round out the top five.

Fowler noted Williams was voted No. 1 on roughly 80 percent of the ballots cast. The 34-year-old is entering his fourth season with the 49ers after being acquired from the Washington Commanders in April 2020.

Since being reunited with Kyle Shanahan, who was on Washington's coaching staff for Williams' first four seasons from 2010 to '13, the Oklahoma alum has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of the past three years. He is one of four offensive players who has been a first-team All-Pro selection in each of the previous two seasons.

"He's an incredibly gifted player," one NFL executive said of Williams. "He has lapses and relies on that talent too much at times. There is some wavering physicality with him. But when he turns it on, nearly impossible to stop."

There does seem to be a significant divide among the people voting about what they look for in an offensive tackle. Williams and Wirfs were the only players named on every ballot.

Tunsil and Jordan Mailata both received first-place votes and were unranked on some ballots.

The Texans made Tunsil the NFL's highest-paid offensive tackle at $25 million per season when he signed a three-year, $75 million extension this offseason. The 28-year-old started all 17 games during the 2022 campaign, allowed only one sack and had a 91.9 percent pass-block win rate.

It's not a surprise to see the Eagles have both of their offensive tackles represented on the list. The entire offensive line was the best unit in the league last season. Johnson hasn't given up a sack since Week 11 of the 2020 season when he was playing with an ankle injury that required surgery.

Mailata's success is one of the best development success stories in the NFL. The Eagles took a flier on him as a seventh-round pick in 2018 after he took part in the league's international pathway program. He was a rugby player in Australia before coming to the United States.

After missing his first two seasons with injuries, Mailata has appeared in 45 games over the past three years. He finished second in the NFL in ESPN's run-block win rate (83 percent) last season.