Average Size of College Football Offensive Lineman (Height & Weight)
I’ve been a collegiate sports performance coach for 20 years. One thing I always loved doing was going through and checking out the sizes of the other teams in our conference.
It helped give me (and our staff) an idea of how we stacked up against our competition. It also could be used as motivation with our team both during the season and, often, during the following off-season.
So, this is essentially the same research I’ve always done, but now I’m sharing it with you. I took starting depth charts for each team in the FBS (over 3000 players) going into the 2023 season and broke them down by position.
For this guide, I took an average of the heights and weights of the over 600 starting Offensive Linemen* across college football. In addition, I broke down the sizes of offensive lines by conference, teams and individual players.
Go ahead and impress someone today with your newfound random football knowledge.
Average Height of a College Football OL
The average height of a College Football Offensive Lineman is 76.48 inches (basically 6’4 1/2″).
Average Weight of a College Football OL
The average weight of a College Football Offensive Lineman is 309.88 pounds.
Want to see how college football Offensive Linemen compare with the size of NFL Offensive Linemen? Good news, I’ve also run the numbers on the guys at the next level.
Which Conference Has the Tallest Offensive Linemen?
| Conference | Avg Height (Inches) |
|---|---|
| Big 10 | 77.13 |
| Big 12 | 76.87 |
| SEC | 76.84 |
| MAC | 76.7 |
| Pac 12 | 76.6 |
| ACC | 76.49 |
| Independents | 76.2 |
| AAC | 76.17 |
| Mountain West | 76.1 |
| Conference USA | 76 |
| Sun Belt | 75.9 |
Which Conference Has the Heaviest Offensive Linemen?
| Conference | Avg Weight |
|---|---|
| SEC | 317.79 |
| Big 10 | 313.74 |
| Big 12 | 313.2 |
| ACC | 312.07 |
| Pac 12 | 309.1 |
| Sun Belt | 309.01 |
| Independents | 308.35 |
| AAC | 306.26 |
| Mountain West | 304.87 |
| MAC | 304.8 |
| Conference USA | 301.82 |
Which Teams Have the Tallest Offensive Line in College Football?
Nebraska has the tallest Offensive Line in College Football, thanks in large part to their two Tackles who measure 6’10” and 6’9″.
| Team | Avg Height (Inches) | Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 78.8 | Big 10 |
| Miami (OH) | 78.4 | MAC |
| Minnesota | 78 | Big 10 |
| Washington | 78 | Pac 12 |
| Arkansas | 78 | SEC |
| Wisconsin | 77.6 | Big 10 |
| Nevada | 77.6 | Mountain West |
| Georgia | 77.6 | SEC |
| Texas A&M | 77.6 | SEC |
| Iowa State | 77.6 | Big 12 |
Which Teams Have the Heaviest Offensive Lines in College Football?
| Team | Avg Weight | Conference |
|---|---|---|
| TCU | 330 | Big 12 |
| Arizona | 327 | Pac 12 |
| Syracuse | 327 | ACC |
| Vanderbilt | 325 | SEC |
| Southern Miss | 325 | Sun Belt |
| Penn St | 323.2 | Big 10 |
| Florida | 323 | SEC |
| South Florida | 322.6 | AAC |
| Texas A&M | 321 | SEC |
| Pitt | 321 | ACC |
Who Are the Tallest Offensive Linemen in College Football?
There are an incredible 8 guys that are listed at 6’9″ or taller. 6’9″!
Probably not shockingly, 7 of the 8 are tackles. Hampton Ergle (center) is the only non-tackle on this list.
| Name | Height | Weight | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teddy Prochazka | 6’10” | 325 | Nebraska |
| Devon Manuel | 6’9″ | 310 | Arkansas |
| Christian Jones | 6’9″ | 315 | San Diego State |
| Xavior Gray | 6’9″ | 320 | Liberty |
| Travis Burke | 6’9″ | 290 | FIU |
| Bryce Benhart | 6’9″ | 315 | Nebraska |
| Tyler Miller | 6’9″ | 316 | Iowa State |
| Hampton Ergle | 6’9″ | 305 | East Carolina |
Who Are the Shortest?
On the opposite end of the height scale, there are 14 guys listed at 6’1″, but only 2 guys listed at 6’0″.
| Name | Height | Weight | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Davion Carter | 6’0″ | 285 | Memphis |
| Sergio Muasau | 6’0″ | 310 | Hawaii |
Who are the Heaviest Offensive Linemen in College Football?
Make no mistake about it. There are some monster human beings paving the way for running backs in college football.
There are 6 guys this year listed at 350 pounds or more.
| Name | Height | Weight | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kalan Ellis | 6’6″ | 375 | Syracuse |
| Damieon George Jr | 6’6″ | 361 | Florida |
| Delfin Xavier Castillo | 6’5″ | 361 | Vanderbilt |
| Micah Pettus | 6’7″ | 360 | Ole Miss |
| Willis Patrick | 6’4″ | 355 | TCU |
| Anez Cooper | 6’6″ | 350 | Miami |
Who are the Lightest?
Think all Offensive Linemen weigh over 300 pounds? That’s simply not the case in college football.
There are 122 starting FBS Offensive Linemen this season listed at under 300 pounds (and another 50 listed at exactly 300).
Here are the five lightest, all listed at under 275 pounds.
| Name | Height | Weight | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phillip Houston | 6’5″ | 250 | FIU |
| Jacqui Graham | 6’4″ | 264 | Middle Tennessee |
| Markell Samuel | 6’4″ | 265 | App State |
| Sam Glover | 6’3″ | 270 | Navy |
| Kaleb Holcomb | 6’4″ | 270 | Air Force |
Important Notes
As a former sports scientist, I tend to take data pretty seriously so I must stress that these ‘averages’ should be used for entertainment purposes only.
Why do I say that?
There are multiple issues that can make all the data in this article flawed.
First and foremost, it’s pretty commonplace in athletics to lie about heights and weights. I once worked at a school where it was standard procedure to add an inch and 5 to 10 pounds to almost every player on the roster.
Why?
The best answer that I was ever given is that it could potentially help with NFL scouting. However, I can’t imagine in 2023 that anyone is fooling an NFL scout with the size listed in a program. I think the real answer is it’s just part of the culture in sports.
*I used the heights and weights of all the projected starters leading into Week 0. Whether it’s through injury or performance, starters can and will change throughout the season.
In fact, it took me a week to gather all these numbers and by the time I was done I would bet that there were dozens of starting positions that had already changed hands.
And, if a couple of 6’6″ 320-pound players are swapped out with a couple of 6’2″ 290-pound players, the sample size is small enough that this could substantially affect the overall averages.
Finally, I can tell you for a fact that players’ (especially linemen) weights can fluctuate pretty wildly from week to week and sometimes even day to day and, especially, over the course of a season.
Just because a guy weighed 305 on the first day of camp when weights were put in the program, does not mean that’s what he weighs in Week 8.
So, have fun with the data above, but this is just a reminder to not take the numbers too seriously.
More Info
I also did an even deeper dive into the sizes of SEC Offensive Lines that you can check out.
Or, if you really want to have your mind blown, check out the fastest O-Line 40 times that some of these big guys have put up at the NFL Combine over the years.
