Scouting Profile: Aireontae Ersery - OT - Minnesota
Sales Pitch: Hulking tackle with long powerful arms and surprising quickness. High cut frame lacks the fluidity of top tackles but does enough things well to be a plus starter.
*Gold Numbers Indicate NCAA T-25 for 2024*
Scouting Report
Aireontae Ersery is a former 3-Star recruit from the state of Missouri. He was a football and track & field star in high school, finishing 4th in the Shot Put state finals in 2019. Ersery was a multi-year starter for the Gophers, with 38 consecutive games on the blind side over the past three years, in which was a 3x All-Big 10 and 2x All-American honoree.
Ersery is big powerful tackle with ideal density and length for the position. He displays heavy hands and the power to stun and drive defenders at the point of attack. He generates torque through his midsection to rip defenders out of the hole and then leans on them with his heavy body to fold them out of the play. Despite his bigger frame, Ersery is also a solid athlete and is actually at his best on zone runs. He displays the first step quickness out of his stance to get his head across on reach blocks and seal. He plays with sound angles and technique to cut off smaller defenders in space and finish them out of the play. Ersery is a dependable pass protector who uses angled set points to cut off rushers before they get their speed up. He shows independent hands that rarely get beat for clean wins and strong hands to clench and control reps when he makes contact. Ersery has a good set of moves to deny counters, headlined by a strong right hook to protect his inside shoulder and snatch trap to defender power. His thick broad chest is also capable of eating contact when his hands miss.
Ersery is a solid linear athlete but his high cut frame lacks ideal fluidity and flexibility through his knees and hips. It prevents him from playing with a good leverage point in the run game and saps his natural power. Ersery will dip his head on contact when trying to lower his frame and slides off blocks he should dominate. His upright frame and average redirect skills do raise some concerns about his ability to match NFL athletes in space as well. An issue that showed itself more in pass protection in college, where if beat he often fails to recover and get back into the play. Ersery’s taller frame also raises the launch point of his punches and creates issues with contact to rushers’ heads. His hands are heavy but can be slow to get up and protect his chest, which allows top end power rushers to get knockback before his anchor kicks in.
Ersery profiles best as LT in a offense that leans towards zone runs as their primary philosophy. His blend of size, quickness and power check all the boxes for a starting NFL tackle. While he lacks the fluidity to be a top option in this class, he does enough well to be a Top-50 pick who might challenge for late Day-1.