The University of Minnesota Duluth football coaching staff always knew they had something real special in Peter Bateman and so do the folks at Hero Sports.

Today that internet site in their rankings of the top five NCAA Division II offensive tackles, listed the Bulldog senior at No. 1. The rankings were based on three categories: experience, positional flexibility, and 2015-16 honors.

Bateman, a 6-6, 285-pound native of La Cresent, Minn, has started all 40 games over the past four seasons and one year ago collared both USA College Football (first team) and Don Hansen All-American (honorable mention) acclaim. In addition, he was named the Bulldogs' Most Valuable Offensive Player in additon to landing a spot on the All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference team for the third consecutive season (first team in 2015 and 2014 and second team in 2013).

Hero Sports Top Offensive Tackles in NCAA II Football