Background

Monroe Freeling grew up in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, just outside Charleston, and attended Oceanside Collegiate Academy, where he anchored an offense that piled up nearly 3,000 rushing yards as the Landsharks went 12-2 and reached the SCHSL Class 2A title game. He also played 56 career basketball games at Oceanside. His mother is a yoga instructor who got him into the practice as a freshman to help with back and joint pain after a growth spurt, and he eventually led yoga sessions with his high school teammates. A consensus four-star recruit with a five-star grade from On3, ranked as high as No. 32 nationally and No. 5 among offensive tackles, he committed to Georgia over Miami, Alabama, Clemson, and South Carolina. He enrolled early and appeared in eight games as a true freshman in 2023, grew into 14 appearances and five starts when Earnest Greene went down in 2024, and broke out as a full-time left tackle starter in 2025 with 14 appearances and 13 starts, earning Second-Team All-SEC. He declared for the 2026 NFL Draft as a true junior with 17 career starts.

Physical Attributes

Freeling put up the second-best RAS for an OT ever. The only player ahead of him is Spencer Brown. Those in his neighborhood include Kolton Miller, Taylor Lewan, Trevor Penning, and Jared Veldheer, to name a few. That's some distinguished company. Freeling is not only one of the freakiest testing athletes, but I scored him as an 8.92 during his on field workout at the combine, tied for third best amongst OL. He is such a smooth mover, and while not overly powerful, can make up for it with his size and speed.

Data and Tape Analysis

If you are unfamiliar with my OL radar charts, you can find more information here

Now that we know Freeling is a freaky athlete, how is he at playing LT, the answer to that is, fine? Look at that radar chart above, does that look like a world-conquering, sun-blotting, soul-crushing man mountain of a LT. I know it does not to me, so let's dig into it.

First, his pass blocking. It is good, but I do not think of it nearly as highly as PFF does. Mike Bobo helped Freeling out by calling one of the quickest, screen-heavy offenses the world has ever seen. Freeling could do a quick set and punch often, but when asked to do more complex tasks, he struggled. Dealing with duels or late blitzers, he had a really hard time distinguishing which player he should block. He plays too upright, making it easy to push him back and to sneak under his punch on the outside. His strong abs help mitigate that uprightness, but his high center of gravity and weak base work against him in equal measure.

His athleticism bails him out a lot. Sloppy footwork, punches, and play identification could be his downfall at the next level as a pass blocker. Especially in today's world of more and more exotic fronts and blitzes, Freeling is in for a baptism by fire.

In the run game, it could be expected that someone his size with his athletic talents would be a road-grater, but alas, he assuredly is not. Freeling can move from his first block to his second in a heartbeat, but he barely affects either. He looks like a bull in a china shop, all power and force bumping into things without a plan. He gets way over himself and lunges at way too many blockers, leaving him off balance, and is thrown away by defenders often. When trying more man to man blocks, his sloppy footwork leads to him conceding ground quickly and dangerously. Most damningly, he struggles to stay connected to the man he is blocking and is often the one dictated to, even if by a much smaller LB.

Grade and Outlook

Freeling might be this year's biggest version of the theoretical player. "Look at everything; if he can just figure it out, he will be incredible!" The people saying that usually miss out on the point they have yet to figure it out, and there are clues in Freeling's game that he might never get all the way there. Still, a bet on that athleticism and his movement ability is one worth taking for one of the most important positions in football.

Grade: 6.3 (Late 1st Rounder / Early 2nd Rounder)