Ranking the Big Ten: Offensive tackle

Many questions remain for what the 2020 college football season will look like, but that doesn't mean we still can't evaluate some of the top players to watch in the Big Ten Conference.

We continue our annual Ranking the Big Ten series today with the offensive tackle. To no surprise, the league returns several future NFL draft picks at tackle in 2020.

Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE

My guess is people will be surprised to see Northwestern's Rashawn Slater atop of this list, but the numbers don't lie on the 6-foot-4, 315-pound offensive tackle.

According to PFF, Slater has far and away the top returning marks of any tackle in the Big Ten. His overall 2019 grade of 89.9 is 12.7 points higher than the next returning tackle in the conference.

He had the league's highest run-blocking grade of 89.9 and the second-best pass-blocking grade of 86.8. In 795 snaps, he didn't allow a single quarterback sack at left tackle - no other returning tackle in the league can say that. He even held his own against Ohio State All-American Chase Young, who had one sack vs. Northwestern, and no hurries or QB hits. The sack didn't obviously come against Slater.

On the season, Slater only allowed five quarterback hurries and just one QB hit. More than likely at the next level he'll be looked at as a guard, but he will anchor down the Wildcats offensive line at left tackle in 2020.

Ohio State's Thayer Munford is Buckeye's most experienced offensive lineman, starting 26 games the last two seasons and playing in 38 out of 42 games over the course of his career.

Munford was a second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2019, and with a 77.2 grade, PFF ranks him as the second-best returning tackle in the league only behind Slater.

Munford allowed five sacks, 14 hurries, and one QB hit in 2019. His run-block grade of 78.4 also ranks second for returning tackles in the Big Ten, only behind Slater.

Every year Wisconsin has a lineman that is going to garner national headlines and attention. In 2020, left tackle Cole Van Lanen will lead the way for the Badgers.

The 6-foot-5, 310 pound Van Lanen was a second-team All-Big Ten selection by the media in 2019 playing 886 total snaps at left tackle. This will be his third year starting at left tackle for Wisconsin, as he's played 1,503 snaps there the last three seasons.

PFF graded him with a mark of 72.6 in 2019, as he allowed five sacks, four QB hits and six hurries. Two of his five sacks allowed came against Ohio State during their first meeting. His overall grade ranks fifth in the Big Ten for returning tackles in 2020, but the reputation of the Badgers line and their development puts him at No. 3 on our overall list.

Just like Wisconsin, Iowa is another team where seemingly every year they have a returning offensive lineman that's going to steal preseason headlines. In 2020, Hawkeye left tackle Alaric Jackson is that guy.

This will be his fourth season starting at left tackle, which is unheard of in a program like Iowa. During that time, Jackson has logged 2,245 snaps at left tackle and allowed just six quarterback sacks - two in each of the last three seasons.

PFF graded Jackson with a mark of 71.4 in 2019, which is ninth for returning Big Ten tackles. However, just like Wisconsin, the reputation and development of Iowa's offensive line puts him at No. 4 on our list.

He's going to be a preseason first-team selection by every publication, but we've done our best to try to weigh in all the numbers, and not base everything on team success and name recognition alone. His ranking at No. 4 should tell you just how deep the tackle position is for 2020 in the Big Ten.

Nebraska's Brenden Jaimes had one of the better seasons of any offensive linemen in the Big Ten, but because of NU's lack of team success, it got little to no attention. Jaimes highly-considered forgoing his senior season for the NFL Draft.

The 6-foot-6, 300-pound Texas native has the league's top overall returning pass-block grade at 88.1 according to PFF, as he allowed just two quarterback sacks and seven hurries in 2019. His nine allowed quarterback pressures were the second-lowest mark in the league, only behind Slater's six.

Jaimes has started 1,712 snaps at left tackle the last two seasons, and as a true freshman in 2017, he logged 629 snaps at right tackle. He'll finish his Husker career unofficially as one of the only four-year starters on an offensive line in school history. When his career is over, he will have logged over 3,000 starting snaps in a Nebraska uniform.