Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota
Size:
Height: 6060
Weight: 331
Arm: 33 ⅛”
Hand: 9 ½”
Accomplishments:
All-Big Ten First Team (2024) • AP Third Team All-American (2024) • Second-Team All-Big Ten (2023) • All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (2022)
“Aireontae Ersery is a physically gifted OT prospect with great strength, length, and movement skills to project as a starting LT for an NFL franchise.”
Strengths:
Generate movement in the run game
Block finisher
Quick, agile, and athletic mover
NFL-ready frame and length
Core strength to torque/turn defenders at point of attack
Concerns:
Hand fighting technique (wide hand placement at times)
Waist-bender/overextending in pass pro
Consistent anchor and leveraging vs. speed-to-power rushers
Overaggressive causing balance issues
Film Analysis:
Aireontae Ersery enters the NFL draft as a three-year starter for the Minnesota Gophers offense. Ersery has racked up more than 38 starts at Minnesota at the tackle position. Ersery is a highly experienced tackle who has great length combined with quickness that sets the foundation for Ersery's effectiveness as a blocker in both the run game and pass protection.
At the OT position, Ersery presents a difficult obstacle for defenders to work around and through in the passing game. He has great arm length to create separation between him and the defender. After his punches land with good timing and placement, he can lock out and stall any forward momentum. He has a strong upper body, core, and latch strength to gain control of his defender.
With his quick get-off, Ersery will meet the defender at the apex of their rush and then shoot his hands to control the pass rusher and slow their momentum. He displays functional lateral agility to mirror and match athletic rushers. He rarely oversets eliminating an inside path to the QB. Ersery has good patience and stays square keeping his defender honest through the pass set. He uses a variety of pass sets, like, quick/jump, diagonal, and vertical sets. Ersery has enough athleticism to recover if he loses contain on the edges and wash the rusher around the arc behind the QB. Against power rushers, he does a good job countering with the snatch trap technique to stall out their attempt.
Ersery is a skilled and effective run blocker, especially on zone calls. His power step provides good momentum and force upon contact with the defender. He works lateral/horizontal blocks well, showcasing the strength to Wash defenders down the line of scrimmage—he has a nasty, finishing mentality. He will put a DL into the ground if given the chance. He blocks with aggressiveness and urgency. Ersery uses the gallop technique on duo/double team blocks before climbing to the second level. He is a good tandem blocker to move DL out of the way to clear the path for the ball-carrier.
On man/down blocks, he has an effective stalemate approach but he doesn’t run his feet after contact, like on zone concepts. This will increase his efficiency and potential impact in both gap and zone schemes. He opens himself to being displaced and countered. In pass protection, Ersery’s punch timing, placement, and hand carriage puts him in compromising positions. He tends to punch too early from a low, wide-hand carriage. Punching too early makes him vulnerable to counters with a more difficult chance of recovering. Ersery’s hands can be sloppy with placement, he needs to strike the defender’s chest plate and settle his hands to latch quicker. He tends to bend at the waist and overextend himself during pass sets—creating an opportunity for defenders to push/pull with power and displace him. Shorter speed-to-power rushes have given Ersery issues due to owning the natural leverage advantage over him. He must find a counter for handling those style rushers better in 2024.
Ersery projects as a high-ceiling starting LT. His combination of power, agility, athleticism, and length makes are great to have in a potential franchise LT. He is a great fit for a zone offense that allows him to generate lateral push to open lanes for the ball-carrier. Ersery is talented with plenty of room to improve before the NFL.
Prospect Projection: Day 2 — Winning Starter
Exposures: Iowa (2024), Michigan (2024), Penn State (2024), Iowa (2023), Michigan (2023), Ohio State (2023), Illinois (2023), Wisconsin (2023)
