Grey Zabel didn’t exactly play for a blue-blood program in college. He spent five years with the North Dakota State Bison, becoming a mainstay on the offensive line over the last three seasons. He was part of a group that produced the No. 1 rushing attack in the nation in 2023 and won two FCS championships in 2021 and 2024. So, the guy has been part of a winning program, even if it was at a lower college level.
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Zabel has racked up a few individual accolades too. He was not only named First-Team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference as a senior in 2024, but he also earned First-Team FCS All-American honors. However, despite his dominance in Fargo, most NFL scouts believe he’ll need a position switch to succeed at the next level.
He played all of his snaps at left tackle for the Bison in 2024. And, at 6’6″ and 312 pounds, it’s not hard to see why he was in charge of the blind side. However, though we hate to say it, his arms are alarmingly short for his size (32 inches), which has caused scouts to take him off the table completely as a possible prospect at tackle.
Without long enough arms, it will be hard for him to maintain initial contact and keep speed rushers under wraps, something he struggled with in college. However, his processing speed, size, aggression, and technique mean that he is an elite prospect on the interior of the offensive line.
Thanks to his natural power and ability to get to the second level after dominating combo blocks, he’s viewed as the second-best prospect in this class at the guard position. He’s generally expected to go in the latter half of the first round or the start of the second. So, who could use a guard?
4) Philadelphia Eagles – Pick No. 32
If you read Grey Zabel’s measurements in the introduction, you had to know this was going to be one of the options here. At 6’6″, Zabel is just an inch shorter than the massive guard they just let leave in free agency, Mekhi Becton. He weighs about 50 pounds less than Becton, but once he moves inside from tackle, it’s likely he’ll pack on the pounds anyway.
Philly loves the big mauler linemen in the middle of their offensive front. Zabel couldn’t be more well-suited to join this group. Zabel would also be making the move from tackle to guard with the help of the most well-respected offensive line coach in football in Jeff Stoutland. The fit is perfect, and the value on Zabel at No. 32 overall would be excellent.
3) Minnesota Vikings – Pick No. 24
With their presumptive starting QB, J.J. McCarthy, coming off big knee surgery, the Vikings are going to have to make sure they shore up that offensive line ahead of the 2025 season. They already made some major moves to that end this offseason with the signings of center Ryan Kelly and guard Will Fries.
Some may feel that negates the possibility of them drafting someone like Grey Zabel with the No. 24 overall pick, but we would tend to disagree. As the Eagles just proved in Super Bowl 59: you win through the trenches.
And if the Vikings have had any issues over the last few years, it’s been on those front lines. Not only with a lack of quality, but with a lack of size on the interior. At 6’6″ and likely to grow, Zabel would slot in beautifully next to Kelly (6’4″) and Fries (6’6″) to create one of the most imposing interior offensive lines outside of Philly. At pick No. 24, the Vikings are basically in a perfect spot to make this pick.
2) Los Angeles Chargers – Pick No. 22
In the same range as the Vikings, the Chargers will also be on the clock. And they actually have a chance to pip the men in purple to the spot. They will draft two picks ahead of Minnesota, and though they’ve already got a pretty solid starting group with Zion Johnson and Mekhi Becton in there, Zabel played all over the line for the Bison in college.
So, while he was strictly a left tackle in 2024, that was not the case in previous years. Coach Jim Harbaugh has been adamant that he views offensive linemen differently than other NFL coaches. He thinks that there are a lot more weapons than just receivers and backs. Linemen are weapons too.
And he walked the walk last year, selecting tackle Joe Alt No. 5 overall. Zabel might not be a Day 1 starter for L.A., but he definitely fits the mold of the team, and with his versatility, he could fill in at basically any of the five spots on the line.
1) Houston Texans – Pick No. 25
If there was one thing wrong with the Texans last year, what would it have been? Say it with me: the offensive line. They had all the skill players you could ask for and a defense that could rush the passer and also cause him problems in the secondary. But they just could not protect burgeoning franchise QB C.J. Stroud when push came to shove.
As a rookie in 2023, Stroud was sacked just 38 times for a respectable 7.08 sack rate. Last year, that skyrocketed to 52 sacks (second-most) with an 8.90 rate (seventh-most). That issue was never more glaring than during Houston’s humiliating loss in the AFC Divisional playoffs against the Kansas City Chiefs.
In that game, Stroud was sacked—and this is not an exaggeration to prove our point—a whopping eight times. They already traded away their best offensive lineman in Laremy Tunsil, so a revamp across the offensive line seems to be in the cards here for Houston. Why not go with the most versatile o-line option in the draft in Grey Zabel?
