Maxwell Riley

Physical Profile

At 6-foot-5 and 280 pounds, Riley carries a prototypical developmental tackle frame with the height and length benchmarks Power Four programs demand on the edge. His current 280-pound listing leaves obvious room to add 25-35 pounds of functional mass in a college strength program without sacrificing the foot quickness that made him a freshman-year starter. The frame supports either outcome: staying at tackle if his length and redirect skills hold up against elite edge speed, or a move inside to guard where his experience and play strength would accelerate his timeline — notably, Rivals already projects him as an interior offensive lineman at Ohio State.

Play Style

Riley plays with the poise you'd expect from a lineman who has started since he was a freshman — he processes stunts and pressure looks calmly and rarely gets caught out of position. On film he wins with technique and positioning more than raw overpowering strength at this stage, showing smooth kick-slide mechanics on the left side and the body control to mirror rushers through the arc. In the run game he's an efficient angle-and-wall-off blocker who fits well in zone schemes, with flashes of finishing nastiness that should become more consistent as his lower-body power develops.

Strengths

• Exceptional experience level — a four-year starter at Avon Lake who has played meaningful varsity snaps since his freshman season, giving him more live reps against varsity competition than nearly any lineman in the 2026 cycle
• Proven positional versatility, with starting experience at both left and right tackle (primarily left tackle as a junior), which raises his floor and gives college staffs five-position flexibility on the line
• Elite evaluation consensus for his position group — top-10 offensive tackle nationally and a top-5 player in talent-rich Ohio per the composite, validated by a recruitment that came down to blue-blood programs including Ohio State and Clemson

Areas to Improve

• Mass and functional strength — at 280 pounds he needs a dedicated two-year build to reach the 305-315 range required to anchor against Big Ten interior power and hold the point in the run game
• Refinement against high-end speed rushers — Avon Lake's Southwestern Conference schedule doesn't regularly present Division I edge talent, so his pass-set depth, hand timing, and recovery quickness against elite get-off remain relatively unproven

College Projection

Riley projects as a redshirt-plus-development lineman who competes for a starting job by year three at Ohio State, with his exact landing spot — tackle versus guard — determined by how his frame fills out and how his length tests against college edge speed. His versatility makes him a prime candidate to be a top-six swing lineman as a redshirt freshman before locking down a starting role. In an offensive line room that recruits at an elite level, his experience and football IQ are what separate him from similarly-rated peers and give him a realistic path to a multi-year starting career.

NFL Outlook

Riley carries legitimate NFL draft trajectory as a composite top-10 tackle in his class committed to a program with a strong recent track record of developing offensive line talent. His versatility across tackle and guard mirrors the profile NFL teams increasingly value on Day 2 of the draft. If he adds the necessary mass while retaining his movement skills and becomes a two-plus-year starter in the Big Ten, he projects as a Day 2-3 selection with starter upside; a move inside to guard would not diminish that outlook given his experience-driven, technically sound profile.

Best Fit

Riley is best maximized in a program running a diverse, pro-style run scheme that blends outside zone with gap concepts — which is exactly what he chose in Ohio State. He fits staffs that value multi-position flexibility on the offensive line and can afford him a genuine developmental runway rather than needing him to play at 280 pounds as a true freshman. A strength program capable of adding 30 pounds of functional mass, paired with daily practice reps against NFL-caliber edge rushers, is the ideal environment to close the gap between his advanced technique and his still-developing power.