While NFL left tackles were long considered more critical than right tackles, teams are now similarly prioritizing high-caliber play at both spots. Clubs with above-average options at left and right tackle hold a distinct advantage over the rest of the league.
Which teams boast the best OT duos in 2024? Let’s rank the top 10, starting with an underrated tandem in the NFC North.
Ranking the NFL’s Top 10 Offensive Tackle Duos
Honorable mention: Atlanta Falcons (Jake Matthews and Kaleb McGary); Buffalo Bills (Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown); Chicago Bears (Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright); Cleveland Browns (Jedrick Wills Jr. and Jack Conklin)
10) Green Bay Packers | LT Rasheed Walker and RT Zach Tom
The Packers identify, draft, and develop offensive linemen as well as any team in the NFL, and they hit on multiple Day 3 tackles in 2022: LT Rasheed Walker (Round 7) and RT Zach Tom (Round 4).
Green Bay’s front five is a better run-blocking than pass-blocking unit, but Walker and Tom have each shown progression as pass protectors over two seasons and change. Tom arguably posted the game of his career against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1, allowing zero pressures while dominating in the run game.
9) San Francisco 49ers | LT Trent Williams and RT Colton McKivitz
Trent Williams is simply unfair. He’s 36 years old and spent the entire offseason away from the 49ers while awaiting his eventual contract extension — and he still looked like this against the New York Jets on Sunday night.
Trent Williams LOL pic.twitter.com/JGci72q2ne
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) September 11, 2024
Williams consistently blew Jets defenders off the line in Week 1 and was flawless as a pass protector. Right tackle Colton McKivitz isn’t at the same level, but he was solid against New York. Kyle Shanahan typically schemes around any 49ers offensive line weaknesses.
8) Houston Texans | LT Laremy Tunsil and RT Tytus Howard
Although it feels like Laremy Tunsil has been in the league forever, he just turned 30 last month. He remains one of the NFL’s top pass protectors on C.J. Stroud’s blindside, consistently giving the standout quarterback time to complete downfield throws.
Right tackle Tytus Howard isn’t as talented as Tunsil, but he’s a productive player in his own right. While he’s bounced between tackle and guard throughout his Texans career, Howard has always looked best at right tackle — which is where he’s stationed for the 2024 campaign.
Injuries destroyed Houston’s front five last season. According to FTN’s Aaron Schatz, they lost more adjusted games to injury than any offensive line this century. Tunsil, Howard, and the rest of the Texans’ OL can be elite if they stay healthy.
7) New York Jets | LT Tyron Smith and RT Morgan Moses
Health will always be an issue for the 33-year-old Tyron Smith, but he’s still among the NFL’s best OTs when available.
Per Next Gen Stats, Smith handled 1-on-1 pass-blocking situations on 84.5% of his snaps last season, the third-highest rate among left tackles. His 6.7% pressure rate allowed on those plays was the best mark in the NFL.
Right tackle Morgan Moses — acquired in an offseason trade with the Baltimore Ravens — is also 33 but has made 144 pro starts while rarely missing time with injury. Forty-one OTs played at least 900 snaps last season, per Pro Football Focus. Moses allowed the sixth-fewest pressures (26) among that group while receiving PFF’s sixth-highest run-blocking grade.
Olu Fashanu, the 11th overall pick in April’s draft, is waiting in the wings if either Smith or Moses goes down this season.
6) Indianapolis Colts | LT Bernhard Raimann and RT Braden Smith
Bernhard Raimann showed flashes during his 2022 rookie campaign, then built upon those glimpses as the Colts’ offensive line rebounded under new head coach Shane Steichen and OL coach Tony Sparano Jr. in 2023.
Week 1 looked like more of the same reliable play from the former third-round pick, who will be in line for a hefty payday next offseason.
Offensive linemen are anonymous as is, but Braden Smith is unknown even among that subgroup. While most casual NFL fans probably aren’t aware of Indy’s right tackle, Smith has been an above-average force since joining the club in 2018. Injuries cost him seven-plus games in 2021 and 2023, but Smith is a stalwart when healthy.
5) Tampa Bay Buccaneers | LT Tristan Wirfs and RT Luke Goedeke
Tristan Wirfs earned a first-team All-Pro nod as a rookie in 2021, a second-team berth in 2022, and was dominant after moving from right to left tackle in 2023. He’s probably the NFL’s second-best left tackle after Williams.
Still, the Buccaneers wouldn’t have ranked fifth on our list had right tackle Luke Goedeke not taken a significant leap forward as an NFL sophomore in 2023. Goedeke, Tampa’s second-round pick in 2022, struggled while playing left guard during his rookie season. But he looked far more comfortable after moving back to right tackle — his position at Central Michigan — last season.
4) Los Angeles Chargers | LT Rashawn Slater and RT Joe Alt
Joe Alt’s first career start for the Chargers couldn’t have gone much better. As PFN’s Theo Ash highlighted, the No. 5 overall pick looked like a seasoned pro on Sunday while facing one of the NFL’s best pass rushers in Maxx Crosby.
Joe Alt was dominant against Maxx Crosby pic.twitter.com/C4OpnqKPoU
— Theo Ash (@TheoAshNFL) September 10, 2024
Ranking Los Angeles’ OT tandem No. 4 includes a bit of Alt projection on our part. But the Bolts’ upside is obvious, especially given that LT Rashawn Slater is already a finished product.
An offensive lineman will likely never win Offensive Rookie of the Year, but Slater rightfully placed fourth in OROY voting in 2021 after posting 1,100+ snaps of elite play at tackle. Although he’s one of the smaller tackles in the NFL at 6’3″, 315 pounds, Slater didn’t let his size get in the way of production on the way to a second-team All-Pro berth.
A ruptured biceps ruined Slater’s 2022 campaign, but he’s since picked right back up where he left off.
3) Minnesota Vikings | LT Christian Darrisaw and RT Brian O’Neill
While the Vikings’ interior offensive line had a lot of trouble with New York Giants DT Dexter Lawrence in Week 1, offensive tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill were almost perfect. Minnesota’s OT tandem gave up just two pressures to Giants edge rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux in the Vikings’ easy victory.
The sole bright spot along Minnesota’s offensive line for years, O’Neill finally has a qualified left tackle partner in Darrisaw. Both tackles have battled injury issues but are elite when healthy. O’Neill ranked third in pass-rush win rate in 2023, while Minnesota finished third as a unit.
2) Detroit Lions | LT Taylor Decker and RT Penei Sewell
Penei Sewell is arguably the NFL’s best player under the age of 25. A two-time Pro Bowler, Sewell made his first All-Pro team in 2023 after allowing the second-lowest pressure rate (3%) among offensive tackles, per TruMedia.
The former No. 7 overall pick routinely shuts down opposing pass rushers with his size, strength, and technique. However, Sewell is also more than athletic enough to make inconceivable run blocks in space.
Taylor Decker slogged through years of poor surrounding play in Detroit and now might be underrated around the NFL. A locker room leader and a tough player, Decker has battled through injuries but largely stayed on the field during his career. He missed two weeks with an ankle issue in 2023 but otherwise has played 100% of the Lions’ snaps over the past two years.
1) Philadelphia Eagles | LT Jordan Mailata and RT Lane Johnson
Jordan Mailata had never played a down of football before the Eagles selected him in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft. After spending two years on injured reserve, the ex-Australian rugby player took over at left tackle in 2020 and hasn’t looked back.
A massive man at 6’8″ and 365 pounds, Mailata still managed to run a 5.12-second 40-yard dash at his 2018 pro day. That athleticism is apparent on tape. Mailata suffocates defensive linemen in pass protection, but he’s also magnificent in the run game.
On the other side of the line, the Eagles boast one of the best right tackles in league history.
The definition of a technician, Lane Johnson has been one of the most dominant blockers of his era. He’s a “set it and forget it” RT who’s been critical to Philadelphia’s success up front. If Johnson is slowing down at age 34, he didn’t show it in Week 1, when he allowed zero pressures in the Eagles’ season-opening win against the Packers.