Joe
Alt.
Joe
Alt.
Notre Dame· 6'9"· 321 lb· 5.05s 40
"A three-year left tackle with NFL bloodlines, size and a 9.92 RAS, Alt was the rare blindside protector who came out of college already looking like a professional at the position."Pre-draft read
Alt was Notre Dame's three-year left tackle, a 6-8, 321-pound blindside protector who set the edge with length and posture rather than raw punch. He kicked out of his stance with clean, patient feet, kept his hands inside and rode speed rushers past the pocket without lunging, and his balance in space was unusual for the size — he almost never got tipped over the top or opened the inside gate.
In the run game he was a positional blocker who covered up defenders and climbed to linebackers with control, more sustain than displacement. He tested as an elite mover for the frame, and the signature was the absence of losses: rep after rep of correct sets and hands against ranked competition, with no obvious hole for a pass rusher to attack.
Pro-style, gap/zone hybrid run game with a heavy dose of drop-back pass protection
Year 1: immediate starting tackle on either side with no help required. Ceiling: franchise blind-side protector and multi-year Pro Bowl anchor of the line.
A downhill, gap-heavy power scheme that asks its tackles to displace 5-techniques at the point of attack and pull as lead blockers on every early down.
Value is highest for a team that protects a pocket quarterback and wants to solve one side of the line for a decade.
1st Round Pick OT Joe Alt College Highlights
Chargers-produced college reel: pass sets, reach blocks and climbs to the second level.
Notre Dame OT Joe Alt Highlights
Full-season cut-up of blindside protection reps against ranked competition.
Inside the Mind of Joe Alt
Technique-focused feature on his sets, hand placement and pass-protection process.
Alt profiled as a plug-and-play NFL left tackle from the day he declared. He had already played the position at a high level for three seasons in a pro-style offense, and the football identity was settled: a long, coordinated pass protector with the anchor, footwork and processing to be a team's answer on the blind side for a decade. Not a mauler, not a project — a starter.
The resume was as clean as the tape. He took over at left tackle as a true freshman, then earned first-team All-America honors in 2022 and unanimous All-America honors as a junior captain in 2023 before skipping the bowl game to enter the draft. He handled the best edge rushers on the schedule without help. The flags were about power, not technique: he lost some reps to bull rushers who got under his pads, and the run-game finish was functional rather than punishing.
The board had him as the top tackle in the class and a consensus top-10 lock, with several evaluators putting him in the top five overall. Taking him fifth was straightforward blue-chip value: the Chargers were rebuilding around their quarterback and added the safest bookend available, with a plan to start him immediately at right tackle opposite an established left tackle.
- 01
Pass-set technique
Kicked out with patient, balanced feet, kept his hands inside and mirrored speed rushers to the top of the arc without lunging or overextending.
- 02
Length and frame
At 6-8 with 34-inch arms he could reach edge rushers first and control the rep before contact ever reached his chest.
- 03
Athletic testing
A 9.92 RAS with a 5.05 forty at 321 pounds confirmed the movement skill that showed up on reach blocks and climbs.
- 04
Experience at the spot
Three seasons and 38 games of left tackle reps in a pro-style scheme against ranked opponents, with almost no bad tape to explain away.
- 05
Balance and recovery
Kept his feet under him when rushers countered inside and could reset his hands mid-rep instead of grabbing or falling off.
- 01
Anchor vs power
Long-levered rushers who got under his pads could compress him into the pocket before he reset his base.
- 02
Run-game finish
A cover-up and sustain blocker more than a remover; he rarely knocked defenders off the ball at the point of attack.
- 03
Play strength ceiling
The frame still needed weight-room mass to match the elite technique against NFL interior and heavy edge power.
- 04
Grip and hand replacement
Occasional late hands let defenders into his frame first, forcing him to recover rather than dictate.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 5.05sp50
- Vertical
- 28inp50
- Broad jump
- 112inp50
- Three-cone
- 7.31sp50
- Shuttle
- 4.51sp50
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Notre Dame | 13 |
| 2022 | Notre Dame | 13 |
| 2023 | Notre Dame | 12 |
| Career | — | 38 |
Offensive linemen do not accumulate counting stats. Games verified for 2021-23; 2021 start total unverified and left blank. Alt skipped the 2023 bowl game after declaring.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Balance and hand technique over raw power; immediate high-level starter.
Big-framed, technically clean left tackle with a decade-long starting floor.
Solid pass-protecting tackle whose run-game impact stays merely functional.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
The Chargers started him at right tackle as a rookie and got exactly what they drafted: 16 starts, no learning curve worth mentioning, and a spot on the PFWA All-Rookie Team as one of the league's steadiest young protectors. In 2025 he moved to left tackle after the team lost its incumbent starter before the season, and the tape stayed at the same level. The availability did not. He sprained his right ankle in Week 4, missed three games, returned for Weeks 8 and 9 and was carted off against Tennessee, ending his season with surgery and a trip to injured reserve after six starts. He was still voted to his first Pro Bowl.
Two years in, the projection looks right. He is a starting-caliber tackle on both sides of the line, he has already answered the power questions that showed up on his college tape, and nothing about the technique has needed rebuilding. The only real open item is durability, and one high-ankle injury is not yet a pattern. If he comes back at the same level, this is the pick the round is judged by.
Data note: Offensive linemen do not accumulate counting stats. Games verified for 2021-23; 2021 start total unverified and left blank. Alt skipped the 2023 bowl game after declaring.