Laremy Tunsil tumbles down ranking of the best NFL offensive tackles

Laremy Tunsil is the man. The Houston Texans acquired the left tackle in 2019 following a trade with the Miami Dolphins. They gave up a lot to get him, two first-round picks and a second. Those picks could've been huge assets for the Texans but they had hope that the underperforming Tunsil could find his grove. Which is exactly what happened.

In four of the five seasons he's been with the Texans, he's been a Pro Bowler. The only year he wasn't was 2021, where he only played five games total. Yet, in every other year, he's made it to the Pro Bowl. It seems like this is a strong relationship between the two sides, yet not everyone is as high on Tunsil in Houston as we are.

CBS Sports' Jeff Kerr believes Tunsil stumbled in 2023, despite his Pro Bowl status. Heading into the 2023 season, he had Tunsil as the third-best offensive tackle in the NFL, just behind Trent Williams of the San Francisco 49ers and Lane Johnson of the Philadephia Eagles.

Williams, despite being 35, is still number one, while Johnson is still in the top five. Yet, where is number three Tunsil? Well, no longer at number three. Tunsil fell to number 11 on the list. Right between Indanpolis Colts tackle Braden Smith and Los Angeles Chargers tackle Rashawn Slater.

Pretty low for a guy with Tunsil's pedigree. The man who's in the running to be the Texans' best all-time offensive lineman has stumbled six spots. A fall that we don't think is entirely warranted. Tunsil had a solid season on his own last year, but the offensive line around him was awful. Guys were hurt, inexperienced, bad at their jobs, and simply not up to the bar that Tunsil had set.

When you have the projected 22nd-best offensive line or the 11th-worst if you want to be a "glass half empty" kind of guy, that's going to affect overall performances. Tunsil and all great offensive linemen are hindered at some point in their careers due to poor play from their teammates.

I don't think Tunsil has fallen that far, if at all, compared to his 2022 outing. If his line-mates are better in 2024, expect a return to form.