Which offensive lineman has the highest ceiling in the 2026 NFL Draft class?
The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL
The Athletic
4.6 • 3.3K Ratings
🗓️ 16 April 2026
⏱️ 84 minutes
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Summary
Dane Brugler put out his full, seven-round mock for the 2026 NFL Draft, and it included eight offensive linemen going in the first round. That would push the record of nine set in 2024. In other words, it's a good year to need some help in the trenches. So who better than Brandon Thorn from Trench Warfare to dig into the offensive line class with Robert Mays and Dane Brugler? No one, we say. That's exactly what the three of them do on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.
Host: Robert Mays
Co-Host: Dane Brugler
Executive Producer: Michael Beller
Senior Producer: Katy Duffy
Social Producer: Scott Krinch
Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social
Follow Robert on X: @RobertMays
Follow Dane on X: @DPBrugler
Theme song: Haunted
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the athletic football show. I'm Robert Mays. Chatting offensive linemen today. Always a show that I look forward to every single year. We have our buddy Brandon Thorne from the Trench Warfare Substack coming on today to discuss all of the offensive lines of purlatives and the categories that we've had for a couple other positions. His favorite offensive tackle, favorite interior offensive lineman. Best Day 2 Pick. Also joining us, it's Dane Bruegler. It's a three-man show about |
| 0:25.7 | the offensive line class, really loved picking these guys' brains about this group of players. |
| 0:31.0 | I think a really interesting group of players and a group that I enjoyed watching maybe more |
| 0:35.9 | than I expected to coming into this process. |
| 0:39.1 | I think a lot to like about the potentially eight or nine offensive linemen |
| 0:43.7 | that could go in the first round of this year's draft. |
| 0:47.0 | A little bit of housekeeping. |
| 0:48.3 | Just want to remind everyone, we are now a week away from round one of the 2026 NFL draft. |
| 0:53.2 | We'll be live on YouTube shortly before the |
| 0:56.4 | draft begins. Me, Dane Bruegler, Bruce Feldman, Dave Hellman, Derek Klassman, breaking down all 32 |
| 1:03.5 | picks of the first round on Thursday night. And then we will be back on Friday, breaking down every |
| 1:08.7 | pick of rounds two and three. One of my favorite things that we do on the athletic football show every single year. |
| 1:14.2 | Thrilled to have Bruce back and part of our coverage for the second straight year. |
| 1:18.3 | So please be on the lookout for all the details regarding that. |
| 1:22.1 | For now, let's get to me, Dane Bruegler, and Brandon Thorne breaking down the 2026 offensive line class right now. |
| 1:39.5 | I've really been looking forward to this. |
| 1:41.6 | I was sitting around all morning going over the rest of my |
| 1:44.3 | notes, filling stuff out, looking at where Dane had guys in his latest seven round mock. And I was like, |
| 1:48.7 | I cannot wait to have this conversation because I think there is a ton to dig into with this |
| 1:53.7 | offensive line class specifically. And that's what we're doing today. Mostly offensive tackles. |
| 1:57.9 | We're going to hit the interior guys a little bit here to help me work through what I find |
| 2:02.8 | a very intriguing position group in the 2026 draft. |
... |
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