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Thor Nystrom’s 2024 NFL Draft Prospect Rankings: Guards

With the NFL Draft a few weeks away, our College Football expert Thor Nystrom shares his official OG rankings. Read on for Thor’s player comps and analysis on the next crop of pro football offensive guards.

Thor Nystrom’s 2024 NFL Draft OG Rankings

Tier 1: Round 2

1. Dominick Puni (Kansas)
6043/323 | RAS: 8.08
Player Comparison: Austin Corbett

Thor Nystrom’s 2024 NFL Draft OG Rankings

Tier 1: Round 2

1. Dominick Puni (Kansas)
6043/323 | RAS: 8.08
Player Comparison: Austin Corbett

2. Cooper Beebe (Kansas State)
6032/332 | RAS: 9.28
Player Comparison: Kevin Zeitler

3. Christian Haynes (Connecticut)
6024/318 | RAS: 9.09
Player Comparison: Steve Avila

Notes: I won’t argue with any order of this trio. Amongst my top 15 guards, Dominick Puni and Cooper Beebe were the only two to post Pro Football Focus (PFF) grades over 80.0 last fall. Beebe was the better collegiate player, but Puni has ever-so-slightly-higher odds of getting the last laugh in the NFL. That mostly comes down to the concerning area of Beebe’s evaluation — he has the second-shortest arms of the 161 guards in my 2024 NFL Draft database.

Puni had an eye-opening 2023 as Kansas’ left tackle (after spending 2022 at LG). Christian Haynes took a slight step backward last year on a going-nowhere UConn team but he picked up the pieces with a tremendous Senior Bowl week and a strong gamut of athletic testing the following month.

Tier 2: Round 3

4. Christian Mahogany (Boston College)
6030/333 | RAS: 9.63
Player Comparison: Sidy Sow

5. Brandon Coleman (TCU)
6042/316 | RAS: 9.97
Player Comparison: Chris Paul

6. Mason McCormick (South Dakota State)
6041/305 | RAS: 9.96
Player Comparison: Randy Thomas

Notes: This trio can all expect to start in the NFL next fall. Christian Mahogany is an athletic enforcer coming off a strong 34-start career. But like the player I comp him to, Sidy Sow, he comes to the next level needing to learn how to trust his physical gifts more and be less concerned about inflicting punishment — tempering some of that violence for technique.

Brandon Coleman is an ascending prospect who picked up football late after spending much of his childhood in Germany. He started at both guard and tackle for TCU but is headed inside at the next level. His technique needs more work — and will not be viable at OT in the NFL — but he’s flashed high-end play, particularly in 2022. Coleman’s injury-riddled 2023 led to a regression but he picked up the pieces in a big way with a standout Senior Bowl week followed by an explosive showing at the NFL Combine.

Speaking of money-making combines, Mason McCormick capped a great career at FCS juggernaut SDSU — taking 3,411 career snaps — with a flashy week in Indianapolis. McCormick is now in play to hear his name called on Friday night (Day 2).

Tier 3: Day 3

7. Zak Zinter (Michigan)
6053/315 | RAS: N/A
Player Comparison: Andrew Vorhees

8. Sataoa Laumea (Utah)
6041/319 | RAS: N/A
Player Comparison: Bobby Hart

9. Layden Robinson (Texas A&M)
6033/311 | RAS: 8.15
Player Comparison: Nate Davis

10. Isaiah Adams (Illinois)
6040/316 | RAS: 7.18
Player Comparison: Wyatt Davis

Notes: Zak Zinter, like Andrew Vorhees, was a tremendous collegiate player with projectable next-level traits who will go lower than he should because of injury. Vorhees missed his rookie season with a torn ACL, causing him to drop to round seven. Fortunately for Zinter, the left leg he broke in November will likely be healed by July. His placement in the draft will come down to how bullish each organization’s medical teams feel about his recovery and odds of re-injury.

Sataoa Laumea was a four-year starter at both guard and tackle but he projects best inside at the next level. Settling in at guard and focusing on his technique will do his game a lot of good. Layden Robinson is a hammer in the run game who will either prove to be a steal (if he can improve his mechanics in pass-pro) or struggle to hang around long-term (if he can’t). My final grade on him acknowledges both the upside and the downside.