2026 Gophers Position Previews: Offensive Line

Summer days are getting shorter. Football is coming. To make you the fan at your tailgate most informed on the top, middle, and bottom of Minnesota's depth chart, Ski-U-Blog is previewing each position group on the roster. Here is the author's favorite post to write each year, a preview of the offensive line.

Likely Starters

After a couple of seasons of unremarkable rushing attacks, offensive line coach Brian Callahan faces some pressure entering the 2026 season. Matt Simon's departure makes Callahan the only position coach remaining from P.J. Fleck's first year at Minnesota. (Ironically, one of the two new offensive line assistants is Matt Limegrover, a longtime Jerry Kill acolyte.) Callahan has been as ever-present a figure as anyone in the program, but he needs a once-effective front five to click again.

At the center of it all — well, adjacent to the center — is Greg Johnson. Johnson came to the U of M with great expectations, and it took a long time for him to catch up with them. By the midpoint of his true freshman season, he was a forgivably imperfect regular. He then had a rather underwhelming sophomore season playing every game at center. He moved back to left guard last year, with experiments at each tackle spot as Callahan tried to fix a unit that wasn't working. His Minnesota career has not lacked for talking points.

Johnson enters his senior season with more expectations: Phil Steele named Johnson a first-team preseason All-American, and Dane Brugler has him as the No. 2 interior lineman in this NFL Draft class. When he gets extended playing time at a single position, it is easy to see why. Johnson has become the people-mover the Gophers need, chugging his feet and outworking defensive tackles to open lanes.

In addition to his power, Johnson's athleticism makes him a solid puller and lead blocker on screens. He is one of the biggest keys to getting Darius Taylor into the open field.

Johnson has also taken significant steps forward in pass protection, in no small part because of his partnership with center Ashton Beers. Beers was rock-solid for the Gophers, with Pro Football Focus charging him with zero sacks allowed the whole season. The first priority of protection is the A gaps, since those are the most direct routes to the quarterback, and Beers had the interior on lock.

As a run blocker, Beers was less effective. He did his job, rarely blowing an assignment, but was not a mauler or a major net positive. The line as a whole was lacking in this regard, ranking in the 100s in line yards per carry, rushing success rate, and yards per non-sack carry. Beers needs to improve here.

Left tackle Nathan Roy stepped into the lineup as a redshirt freshman and held his own across 13 starts. There were some issues — like a needless unnecessary roughness foul at the end of the loss to Cal — but Roy was a viable starting left tackle: seldom dominant, seldom an outright problem, and starting to show what he can do with his physical tools. The former blue-chipper keeps his feet moving and uses his long reach to fend off defenders.

If Roy can take the kind of step forward that earns all-conference recognition this year, even an honorable mention, that would make life considerably easier for Drake Lindsey.

Minnesota's right side was a major problem all of last season. It remains unsettled midway through camp. Fifth-year player Tony Nelson finished the season as the starting right guard, with acceptable results. Like one would expect for a longtime backup, Nelson did not err much but looked a half-step slow at times, whiffing a few blocks both off the snap and when climbing to the next level. Tackle Dylan Ray was usually more responsible for pass protection mistakes, but there were some moments of disorganization on that side of the line that were not as present on the other. With Nelson getting more regular first-team reps, those should go away; concerns about his mobility are more endemic.

Nelson's main competition is Brett Carroll, who may also be Beers' backup at center. Carroll serves as a narratively convenient foil, a redshirt sophomore who was the Gophers' 4th-highest-rated 2024 signee and has never played a meaningful snap in college.

Carroll's appearance at Oregon was too brief to inform. He had a couple of good plays, one bad one, and two neutral ones against the Ducks' reserves. He played plenty against Northwestern State, but that may even be even less useful, considering how thoroughly Carroll and the Gopher line bossed the Demons. In the spring game — stiffer competition than the Northwestern State game — Carroll looked good, splitting his snaps between guard and center. He used active hands and his 320-pound anchor to avoid allowing any pressures.

Carroll should be a fine lineman for Minnesota, if not something better. The question is whether that begins this season or next. Nelson may not have as high a ceiling but can win this job and be a passable starter.

There's another battle at right tackle, the presumptive leader of which was for a while Bennett Warren. Warren garnered a reported 25 offers from power-conference schools (none of them Minnesota) before landing at Tennessee, where was a reserve tackle the last two seasons. Whether or not he has actually shed 35 pounds since leaving Knoxville, as official listings indicate, photos seem to indicate Warren has slimmed down a bit to accentuate his long frame. Standing 6-and-a-half feet tall, with an even bigger wingspan, Warren sure looks like an athlete.

Because he recorded so few snaps at a time for the Vols (a blowout win over East Tennessee State notwithstanding), I will be evaluating his spring game performance. Warren spent much of the day lined up across from T.J. Bush Jr. and Jaxon Howard, which was a tough assignment. He got by more than excelled. He keeps his pads low for a guy his height while using his long arms to keep engaged with rushers. The issue is his balance. Warren doesn't play with a heavy base and leans a bit, so a smart defender like Bush can put him on his heels off the snap and out-leverage him. He has just enough lateral quickness to recover and give his quarterback the 3 seconds he needs. It can just look precarious. I did not charge Warren with any pressures allowed, but he cut it close a couple times.

We didn't get as full a look at Warren in the run game because the Gold team did not run as much with him on the field. He was fine in those glimpses, if unspectacular. It all paints a picture of a player that is ready to play at least some but has a lot of room to grow before you stop worrying about him. That is fine for a redshirt sophomore. It is not, however, enough to guarantee him the job at right tackle.

A year ago, I had no idea what to make of Daniel "D.J. Shipp because the internet had almost nothing to show me. Fleck is now calling him "a young Aireontae [Ersery]," which is obviously high praise when the actual Aireontae Ersery made an emergency start at 18 years old and already looked like he belonged in the Big Ten.

Having reviewed Shipp's spring game performance: I get it. The Ersery comparison remains lofty, but Shipp went one-on-one repeatedly with Karter Menz and was excellent. He plays with great feet and a firm anchor, keeping the quarterback clean even if he gives up ground initially. This isn't a perfect rep, but it shows off Shipp's deft footwork and his ability to maintain leverage and keep Menz from cutting across him into the B gap:

There were moments that I thought Shipp could have chipped a defender a little harder on a double team or before going downfield for a screen, and he took a false start penalty, but those are pretty small complaints. He handled a small handful of stunts and late blitzes well. Based on this rather limited glimpse of his abilities, he seems like the real deal. That does not mean he definitely starts over Warren, but it is reason for excitement at what Shipp can be when he does get on the field.

Key Backups

Jaden Ball has already bounced around a bit despite this only being his second year with the program. In practices and his two real games, Ball has lined up at guard, tackle, and even tight end. He is for sure the backup at left guard but could cover multiple other positions. While Greg Harbaugh Jr. does not frequently deploy heavy personnel, Ball seemed to be the first choice off the bench when the Gophers went big in 2025. With both two interior spots opening in 2027, he could have a more permanent place soon.

Jerome Williams provides more cover on the inside, including at center. His one appearance in a college game was in the Northwestern State blowout, which indicates his place in the pecking order. When Williams arrived alongside Johnson as 4-star prospects, it seemed like Williams would be in the starting five at some point, but his first real shot at that will not come until 2027, his last year of eligibility.

Notables Unlikely to Contribute

Compared to Shipp, there were not many unknowns about Kaveon Lee they joined the program together. Unlike Shipp, Lee does not have a chance to start Week 1. The late goings against Eastern Illinois and Akron may afford him his first college snaps at left tackle.

Gavin Meier, the top recruit in the state of Wisconsin, played a lot next to Tielsch as the right tackle in April. He showed glimpses of athleticism and did not make glaring mistakes but never stood out either. High school footage puts on display Meier's single-minded pursuit of pancakes, which does not always come as a result of fundamentally sound blocking as much as his formidable size and physical tools.

Rocori's Andrew Trout was the highest-rated offensive lineman in Minnesota's 2026 signing class. He split time between left and right tackle in the spring game and showed some good while clearly not being ready yet. He moves his feet well and replaces his hands in protection. Trout is just not as powerful or as quick as the players at this level. The good news is he does not have to be yet.

Guards Mark Handy and Nick Spence both redshirted last year and are still a ways away from the field. Handy is the more likely of the to appear in mop-up time or enter the picture in 2027, as he took center reps with the 2s at the team's August 20 open practice.

Beckett Schreiber would represent a symbolic recruiting victory for Minnesota, as he attended Memorial High School in Madison, except that Wisconsin never offered him a scholarship. (Can one win symbolic victories by default?) On Signing Day, Fleck praised his athleticism, which is actually more apparent in how he fires off the ball in his defensive highlights.

Aaron Thomas moves well himself, and he delivers a solid punch, but he has to clean up his game a bit. He plays a little narrow and upright. While he clearly relishes finishing a block, he can stretch the meaning of the phrase "through the whistle" and doesn't always keep his hands inside defenders' shoulders.

Lucas Tielsch enrolled early and played right guard in the spring game. He did not always react properly to rushes but had a passable performance. In his prospect highlights, Tielsch plays nimbly despite officially measuring 6-foot-7 and 320 pounds, firing off the ball and successfully executing second-level blocks.