Height: 6’7
Weight: 325 pounds
Year: Redshirt Senior
Pro Comparison: Sam Young

2026 NFL Combine Results

Pros of Caleb Tiernan

• Savvy player who offers strong fundamentals to help mitigate some anatomical deficiencies in his game
• Shows understanding of the value his hands offer, both in hand timing and punch power
• Offers good natural anchor down the midline to absorb power rushes
• Does possess good vertical push and displacement ability in linear blocks
• Good foot cadence in space to keep rushers framed on his edges and in his strike zone

Cons of Caleb Tiernan

• Will typically be punching down on defenders and offers uniquely limited wingspan relative to his height and stature
• Pad level will be a constant battle and defenders have shown the ability to play up and through his pads with leverage
• Tightly wound through the hips to sustain blocks as defenders look to work across his face or disengage and pursue
• Modest foot speed when needing to flash and react laterally with agility

Background

Tiernan was a coveted 4-star recruit (247Sports) coming out of Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills, MI. He was a hotly contested recruit out of the state of Michigan and collected offers from programs such as Boston College, Kentucky, Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, and Nebraska. Tiernan was also a four-year letterman in basketball at Detroit Country Day. As a true freshman at Northwestern, Tiernan redshirted and logged just five total snaps played.

He’s rolled up nearly 3,000 career offensive snaps since and has logged starts at both right tackle (2022) and left tackle (2023-2025). The positional flexibility and forecast as a swing tackle should help his valuation in the NFL Draft process. Tiernan finished his college career as a Second-Team All-Big Ten selection in 2025 before making the leap to the pros.

Player Evaluation

Northwestern offensive tackle Caleb Tiernan has done well for himself to not just simply rely on his mass and stature. He illustrates a workable foundation of technique and fundamentals that, along with his size, should give him continuous opportunities to seize a starting job early in his NFL career. He’s got some physical limitations that cause concern in offenses that like to leave their tackles in isolation on the edges. But with some added positional flexibility in his back pocket, Tiernan projects as a mid-round tackle prospect and quality depth for NFL teams as his floor.

There’s some tightness in his hips that can be tough to reconcile as a reactive athlete at times and disciplined defenders at the point of attack can work underneath of his pads and create stalemates at the point of attack. That, plus his modest reach relative to his height, will create unsustained blocks with too much frequency.

But when you really dig into how he plays, he has really active and intentional hands to go with a baseline level of foot speed and a good initial base in pass protections. He’s naturally strong and can absorb power without needing to sit all the way down on his hips and win the leverage battle. Tiernan has good eyes and awareness of the pocket as well, he appears to be a high football IQ player. But he does need to be when projecting how he’ll battle NFL caliber rushers.

A to Z Rankings

A to Z Big Board Ranking: 59th overall, OT10

A to Z Draft Grade: 7.48/10.00

Draft projection: Day Two

NFL Draft

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