Aireontae Ersery, Gophers’ immense offensive lineman, draws sizable attention ahead of NFL draft

Takita Charles still remembers her son, Gophers tackle Aireontae Ersery, screaming at the family cookout.

“I’d heard this yell before when him and his sister were wrestling for the potato peeler,” Charles said. “She snatched it and kind of snagged his finger. … He had the same yell. I was so nervous that I ran up to the house.”

This time, Ersery was wearing a big smile. Then 17 years old, he had played football for only two years at Ruskin High School in Kansas City, Mo. But the Gophers came calling with an offer — Ersery’s first from a major program — and wanted him to visit campus to get him to commit.

“He stood up, ‘Minnesota just called me!’ ” Charles said. “He was so excited. I’ll never forget that day.”

Ersery quickly committed to the Gophers in June 2019, setting him on a path toward becoming one of the top college tackles in this weekend’s NFL draft. He has since blossomed into a 6-6, 331-pound wrecking ball capable of holding off Penn State’s Abdul Carter, a coveted pass rusher who is expected to be taken within the top five picks Thursday night.

That’s a far cry from the roughly 220-pound high school freshman who once sat inside Ruskin’s weight room with no intention of playing football.

“I came a long ways,” Ersery said. “I’m not the same guy when I first walked in here.”

Ersery could hear his name called Thursday night, too, or early in Friday’s second round. He’s widely expected to be the first Gophers draft pick this year, following the likes of safety Antoine Winfield Jr., center John Michael Schmitz and safety Tyler Nubin, all second-round picks.

“We’ve had five straight years with a first- or second-round pick in the program,” Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said. “There’s going to be another one this year.”

Ersery, the oldest of Charles’ five children, liked a different sport before his uncle, Bill Dudley, convinced him to tag along to football practice one day. Ersery sat in the weight room waiting for Dudley, who is a year older than his nephew. That’s when William Perkins, former head coach at Ruskin, first approached Ersery.

“That’s always been one of our rules,” Perkins said, “you can’t sit down in the weight room. … We had a conversation, ‘Well, why aren’t you playing football?’ He says he’s not really a football player. He’s a basketball guy.”

Perkins invited Ersery to join the team’s after-school weightlifting program.

“From there,” Perkins said, “he continued to come.”

By the following year, as a sophomore, Ersery was a starting offensive tackle and defensive end. By the time he was a junior, Ersery was ascending into a college prospect while making the state tournament in wrestling as a heavyweight and placing fourth in shot put at the state track and field meet; the wrestling and throwing coaches were on the football staff.

Ersery’s competitiveness comes out everywhere from the arcade to the weight room.

“He’s got a video where as a big kid he’s jumping on top of these stacked plyo boxes,” Perkins said, “to prove to some of the receivers that he was more explosive than they were. He’d compete with those guys.”

Ersery committed himself to the weight room entering his junior year, after which Gophers coaches put him through drills at a satellite camp at Lindenwood University in suburban St. Louis. The Gophers were among at least “12 to 15” programs that called Perkins afterward wanting to know more about Ersery upon seeing him in person.

“I still remember that day. It was so hot,” Ersery said. “They barely let us tap the water. But Minnesota stuck out to me because they were the only school talking about development. Not just on the field, but also off the field.”

Blaise Andries, who started 46 games for the Gophers offensive line from 2018 through 2021, remembers a humble, quiet Ersery arriving as a three-star recruit in 2020. But there was already something obvious to everyone when Ersery practiced.

“Everyone kind of knew he was going to be very good,” Andries said. “The only other time I had that impression was when [former Gophers and now Baltimore Ravens guard Daniel] Faalele came. … Aireontae shows up and he’s 25 to 30 pounds heavier than everyone and he’s also more athletic. You see those guys and you hope they have the attitude and effort to back it up, and he did.”

Ersery faced early trials, getting thrown into action in the sixth game of the season as a true freshman when 33 of his teammates were ruled out, many because of COVID-19. The following year, Ersery redshirted; he said he suffered a leg injury. At Gophers pro day in March, Ersery credited Minnesota’s 2021 veteran line that included Andries, Faalele, Sam Schlueter and Conner Olson for pushing and encouraging him.

“I remember Sam telling me after the [2021 season], ‘Man, good luck to you. I know you’re going to have a hell of a career. I’ll be watching,’ ” Ersery recalled. “Once he said that, I felt good inside. I knew my time had come.”

From there, Ersery started 38 consecutive games at left tackle for the Gophers. In December, he was named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year for a season that included a game in which he allowed only one quarterback pressure by Penn State and Carter.

“He can do it all,” linebacker Cody Lindenberg said. “He can pass block, run block, good on his feet, agile. … He can do it all on the field, but when you get to meet him off the field, he’s a great human.”

Ersery’s athleticism even tempted Fleck to try a trick play from Penn State’s 8-yard line while trailing 26-22 with about six minutes left. Carter covered Ersery, who went out for a pass in the flat, but Gophers quarterback Max Brosmer threw incomplete. The Nittany Lions won 26-25.

“We’ve had that in forever, and I don’t think we ever ran it,” Andries said. “Sometimes they throw us a bone, right?”

Ersery is among the largest blockers in this draft class at 6-6 and 331 pounds. Yet he moves like a smaller player. His 40-yard dash, completed in 5.01 seconds and topping out at 19.76 miles per hour, ranked fourth among offensive tackles at the combine.

“Man,” Ersery said, “I was getting videos sent to me like, ‘That’s a very big guy moving at that speed!’ ”

If NFL teams like Ersery as much as draft analysts, he should be in good shape.

Ersery met with many teams throughout his trips to the Senior Bowl and the combine. At least three teams — the Patriots, Panthers and Saints — reportedly hosted Ersery among their allotted 30 predraft visitors. The Vikings hosted Ersery among many local visits that are not capped by the NFL.

His official NFL.com draft profile describes Ersery as a “mass of humanity with a broad chest and long arms.” Todd McShay, a former ESPN analyst, said Ersery has a ceiling matched only by Ohio State’s Josh Simmons and Missouri’s Armand Membou in this class of offensive tackles.

“The best three players on tape if I’m just doing the traits and what they can potentially be,” McShay said on his podcast, “The McShay Show.” “Big guys that move like [Ersery] don’t fail — very rarely.”

Ersery will spend draft weekend in Kansas City with family, ready to react to whatever is thrown his way.

“Life is full of ups and downs,” Ersery said. “I’m happy right now, but I’m pretty sure I’ll run into a brick wall again. Then you just got to respond.”