Monroe Freeling — 2026 NFL Mock Draft Roundup 2.0

The 6-foot-7, 315-pound Freeling was a full-time starter for just one season at Georgia, but he has ideal length and athleticism for a right tackle. The Lions can flip All-Pro OT Penei Sewell to the left side.

The Rams don't have many glaring needs, so there's an argument for them to draft a player who can boost their Super Bowl odds immediately. However, Freeling is too good of a prospect to pass up if the board fell this way. He has the most upside of any offensive lineman in this draft, with excellent size (6-7, 315 pounds) and athleticism (4.93-second 40-yard dash).

With only 18 starts under his belt, Freeling would need time to develop into a left tackle at the next level. In Los Angeles, he would have the chance to be a sixth offensive lineman for a season, as Alaric Jackson is the current starting left tackle.

Trent Williams is getting up in the years and wants a new contract. It's time to start looking for a replacement.

Like the team's quarterback situation, whether the Browns are playing for 2026 or building for 2027 and beyond is up for debate. In either case, there's a screaming need at left tackle, and Freeling is a left tackle who's been generating a bunch of pre-draft buzz. The 21-year-old is not a finished product, but his athletic traits fit the mold of Browns GM Andrew Berry's past picks. The Browns are open to trading down and then taking the best available wide receiver or left tackle. In this exercise, no trade came to fruition, and Freeling became the next key piece of the Cleveland rebuild. — Zac Jackson

The Browns needed to completely rebuild their offensive line this offseason. They've started the process in free agency, signing several veterans, but could still use a further injection of talent. Especially at the tackle position. Enter Freeling, a riser throughout the 2025 season who is now firmly in my top 10 overall for this class. Freeling has upside as a true blindside protector for whoever is throwing passes in Cleveland in the future.

Proposed trade: The Lions and longtime LT Taylor Decker divorced, yet there doesn't appear to be an obvious in-house replacement, nor did one arrive during free agency. Freeling, 21, who was a teammate of Lions G Tate Ratledge in Athens, seems like the obvious choice in the draft — where he's probably got the highest ceiling among all the left tackle prospects, if not a ton of experience with only 16 college starts. But given Detroit is squarely in a championship window, GM Brad Holmes would probably have to get aggressive to obtain Freeling — likely a first-round pick swap with Cleveland and a second-rounder this year and next given the Lions don't have a Round 3 choice in 2026.

Freeling has the most upside of any tackle in this year's draft -- and the Lions have a void to fill at the position after parting ways with Taylor Decker.

The Browns are hitting the reset button on their offensive line. First, they traded for Tytus Howard. Then they signed Zion Johnson and Elgton Jenkins, and re-signed Teven Jenkins on the interior. Toss in getting Dawand Jones back from a season-ending knee injury, and this is a completely different unit from what we saw late in 2025. Freeling could be the final piece of the puzzle. His decision to declare for this class was originally a little bit of a surprise, considering he had 18 college starts. But I see franchise left tackle traits; he's quick and alert in pass pro, using his long 34¾-inch arms to his advantage.

The Browns have a hole at left tackle, but all the best offensive linemen in this draft are right tackles. However, Freeling is starting to inch up on big boards and in mock drafts, so I think the Browns might take a swing and select the Georgia left tackle a bit earlier than some think. This might not seem like a big reach as the process goes on, though. Francis Mauigoa and Spencer Fano might be better offensive tackle prospects, but Freeling is the better fit here. Still, this was probably the hardest pick to figure out in this mock draft.