Luke Fortner
Carolina PanthersModel Score
How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →
Season Stats · 15 games
Draft & College
Comps
STM Take
Tier 8 (#86) rookie to tier 1 (#4) in year four is one of the largest multi-year STTM arcs at the position, and the change-of-scenery from Jacksonville to New Orleans appears to be the catalyst. The Kentucky technical foundation plus four years of NFL development put Fortner in his prime now. The 2026 question is whether the tier 1 finish holds with continued Saints offensive line stability or whether 2025 was a one-year context spike.
Fortner came out of Kentucky as the Jacksonville Jaguars' 3rd-round pick (65th overall) in 2022 and started at center for two seasons in Jacksonville. After the Jaguars moved on, he signed with the New Orleans Saints, where he has emerged as a tier 1 interior anchor. His STTM career runs tier 8 (#86) rookie season, tier 6 (#45) in 2023, then a massive jump to tier 1 (#4) in 2025 with the Saints.
Strengths
- Tier 8 (#86) rookie to tier 1 (#4) at age 27 is a career arc that few interior linemen drafted outside round one ever produce.
- New Orleans's offensive line system pairing him with Erik McCoy and Taliese Fuaga creates the structural protection that lets the tier 1 finish hold.
Concerns
- Single tier 1 finish without prior top-50 STTM history raises the question of whether the 2025 jump was structural or one-year context.
- Jaguars' decision to let him walk in free agency despite two years of starter experience signals the prior coaching staff did not see a tier 1 ceiling.
What to watch: Whether Fortner holds tier 3 or better in 2026 with the Saints, or whether the rank drifts back toward his pre-2025 career band of tier 6-8.