2020 Mountain West Football Top 50 Players: #15, Air Force G Nolan Laufenberg
The Falcons guard is the highest-ranked player at his position on this year’s list of Mountain West football’s top athletes.
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Truly elite.
Many Mountain West fans have become accustomed, over the years, to just expecting the Air Force Falcons’ ground game to perform at a high level. However, its contributors rarely reach the heights of the next player on our countdown of the conference’s best football players in 2020.
Air Force guard Nolan Laufenberg played in all twelve games for the Falcons back in 2018, starting nine, but it wasn’t until last fall that he developed into one of the best offensive linemen anywhere in the country, opening holes for a rushing attack that, on a per-carry basis, had its best year since 2015 while ranking in the top five nationally by Line Yards Per Carry, Power Success Rate, Stuff Rate, and sack rate allowed.
A standout on film and by just about every statistical measure, Laufenberg was an obvious choice for the media’s first-team all-conference squad, but he also landed on the Walter Camp second-team all-American team — the first Falcon to do so in 17 years — and the Pro Football Focus first team.
The best offensive line in all of College Football pic.twitter.com/iktPVevqBG
— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 20, 2020
We’ve already seen Air Force in action ahead of the fuller 2020 season and Laufenberg looks no less nasty to contend with. For a squad facing unprecedented challenges, his skillful play in the trenches will go a long way toward helping the Falcons remain a headache every single week.
Nolan Laufenberg was ranked 3⃣ by @PFF_College for returning offensive lineman and the 𝐭𝐨𝐩 Group of 5 returner! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/nDL1ZnqLOg
— Air Force Football (@AF_Football) June 3, 2020
You don’t see many 320 Lineman that can move like @nolanlauf Nolan Laufenberg. Body awareness and athletic ability will impress. pic.twitter.com/wxT33AewF9
— Elite Speed (@EliteSpeedSp) April 1, 2020
