Flugel Posted March 19, 2023 Report Share Posted March 19, 2023 All of the following prospects were researched and written up by Lindy's Sports Pro Football Draft: Jaelyn Duncan, Maryland - Left Tackle, 6'4" 315 lbs, 5.02 40 time, 2nd Round Projection Overview: One of the most prominent offensive linemen in college football, Duncan has been on scouts' radar for years. He took over the starting left tackle job in 2019 and has 4 years of starting experience under his belt as he heads to the NFL. His build and style of play will be a lot more fitting as a guard for some teams, but having the versatility to play multiple positions along the line will score him points in draft rooms. He even played center at one point during his sophomore season. Strengths: Wide, dense base to absorb shock in the passing game. Cruises through space in a way that few big men do. Great anchor and balance allow him to stall out initial contact or recover when beaten. Hands and feet are always working in sync. Naturally powerful puncher who will blast linebackers off their feet. Potential versatility will help him get on the field earlier. Center of gravity is almost never compromised. Good coordination and ability to adjust with his hand usage. Rarely swings his hands wide or outright misses on his target. Weaknesses: Wingspan and arm length are on the small side for a tackle and could lead to some teams projecting him as a guard-only prospect. Lateral agility will be tested against top-flight pass rushers. Energy seems to fluctuate from game to game. Has to play too aggressive at times to counteract the length differential. Not quick or long enough to recover once beaten off the snap. Grade: 7.7 Blake Freeland, BYU - Left Tackle, 6'8" 307 lbs, 5.18 40 time, 3rd Round Projection Overview: One of the most decorated athletes in Utah high school history, Freeland did a little bit of everything. He won state championships in multiple sports and set records in the shot put and javelin. It didn't take long for the uber-athletic lineman to break into the starting lineup in Provo. He started 4 years in total after earning one of the tackle spots midway through his true freshman year. A for a lack of positional versatility and questionable movement skills for a left tackle could lead to a draft slip, but teams looking for a power-oriented right tackle will still be in the market for his services. Strengths: Rare 35 inch arms are a difference-maker when it comes to snagging and re-directing edge rushers. Brick wall in pass protection when he settles his feet and frames up opponents. Plays much sturdier than expected for his weight. Good build-up speed when he gets rolling downhill. Deceptive athlete with unique balance and core strength through contact. Combination of motor and natural power leaves craters in the run game. Excellent at pulling and shocking targets when he lands. Technique and block sustainability improved over the duration of his senior year. Can rely on his size and wingspan to help cover up lapses. Smart processor when dealing with blitzers and defense complexity. Weaknesses: Leverage can be an issue at times. Settles high in his stance and isn't flexible enough to get much lower. Feet can lag behind his hands when dealing with twitchy opponents. Starts to get clunky when he has to adjust on short notice. Heavy plodder without easy change-of-direction skills. Hands are slow to re-calibrate after initial contact. Below average hand and foot quickness could make him a right tackle only. Grade 7.5 Ryan Hayes, Michigan - Left Tackle, 6'6" 301 lbs, 5.14 40 time, 3rd-4th Round Projection Overview: An impact high school basketball player and pitcher, Hayes made his way to Michigan as an oversized 6'6", 271-pound tight end. Relocated to the offensive line and played sparingly during his 1st three years but stepped into the starting left tackle role in 2021 as part of one of the best offensive lines in college football. He leaves Ann Arbor as a 2 time all conference nominee, Senior Bowl invitee and 28-game starter at left tackle. Strengths: Natural knee bender who plays with good balance and leverage for his size. Hands are patient and controlled. Quick to engage and sustains as a run blocker. Understands angles and plays with a lot of discipline in how he uses them. Has an accurate punch that rarely lands wide. Could hold his own physically as a guard if needed. Very technically sound. Makes every rep look the same from an energy and coordination standpoint. Runs his legs through contact and pushes the pace. Plays with good awareness to pick up the stunts and transition from block to block. Hands and feet function simultaneously rather than one lagging behind the other. Weaknesses: Very short arms on a tall and lanky frame don't bode well for him as an offensive tackle. Unable to recover if he loses control around the arc. Can get beat by a good, long arm move due to the length differential. Mirroring ability in pass protection isn't adequate to defeat top-level athletes. Punch gets the job done but won't shock NFL defenders. Athletic upside is somewhat limited. Grade 7.1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumby73 Posted March 19, 2023 Report Share Posted March 19, 2023 Combine.. Age.. RAS... PFF grade... double click on box to increase size Offensive Line 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted March 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2023 36 minutes ago, gumby73 said: Combine.. Age.. RAS... PFF grade... double click on box to increase size Offensive Line Worthy of Note, Cody Mauch is the long haired kid without his 2 front teeth on the top. There's something about an offensive lineman with a Jack-o'-lantern smile. Sorry about my short list; but I just provided the Left Tackles projected to be available to us at pick #42 and #98. All 3 guys were mentioned as offensive guard possibilities as well in case anyone is thinking it's going to be easy to draft a new starter at Left Tackle this year. Having said that, I do appreciate you providing this list for us of OL for us Gumbs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballpeen Posted March 19, 2023 Report Share Posted March 19, 2023 I like Hayes. Mich has had a good O line for several years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted March 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2023 (edited) On 3/19/2023 at 6:35 PM, ballpeen said: I like Hayes. Mich has had a good O line for several years now. He was very solid for the school up north at a very important position. The biggest thing working against him in the draft is his arm length for a LT. That's not always a show stopper though; but it IS something teams really look at. I'm gonna contradict myself and say we may draft a Left Tackle this year because of how shakey Wills has been. Edited March 24, 2023 by Flugel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch Oven Posted March 24, 2023 Report Share Posted March 24, 2023 9 hours ago, Flugel said: He was very solid for the school up north at a very important position. The biggest thing working against him in the draft is his arm length for a LT. That's not always a show stopper though; but it IS something teams really look at. I'm gonna contradict myself and say we may draft a Left Tackle this year because of how shakey Wills has been. This is the last season of Wills rookie contract, right? Big season for Wills, and for the Browns concerning the LT position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumby73 Posted March 24, 2023 Report Share Posted March 24, 2023 50 minutes ago, Dutch Oven said: This is the last season of Wills rookie contract, right? Big season for Wills, and for the Browns concerning the LT position. imo..The Browns should wait until after the draft.. Picking up 5th year options must be done May 1: Deadline to exercise fifth-year option (for 2024) for players chosen in Round 1 of the 2020 NFL Draft. Wills’ fifth-year option will be for $14.175 million as he will have reached the playing time criteria but without any Pro Bowl selections: https://www.dawgsbynature.com/2023/2/7/23590174/browns-jedrick-wills-5th-year-option-contract-amount-revealed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calfoxwc Posted March 25, 2023 Report Share Posted March 25, 2023 The steelers are often mocked to be picking a LT with their pick(s) in the second round. About 4, maybe 5 LT's might go in the first.... not looking good for a LT for the Browns in the third round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted March 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2023 13 hours ago, Dutch Oven said: This is the last season of Wills rookie contract, right? Big season for Wills, and for the Browns concerning the LT position. Yes, last season of a rookie contract that will have a cap hit of $6,269,109 and a dead cap value of #2,972,348. It is indeed a big season for Wills. Hopefully, this will also be the first uninterrupted season of our $230,000,000 investment at QB in which the Left Tackle has an enormous responsibility of protecting his blind side. It would be great if he's up to the challenge. That said, we're not drafting until round 3 again so teams don't usually/typically look to this round for an immediate starter at Left Tackle. That might be a great spot to land someone like BYU's Blake Freeland or an equivalent skillset/talent. In practice, backups and practice squad guys usually are the scout team scrimmaging against the starting defense. That means if the Browns did draft a Left Tackle that won't start early on - he'll get his early training and growing pains against Myles Garrett. That should make it feel a lot easier when/if he gets to go against anyone else. This approach also reminds Wills he begins the year as the starter and what he chooses to do with that ideal opportunity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumby73 Posted March 25, 2023 Report Share Posted March 25, 2023 2 hours ago, Flugel said: That said, we're not drafting until round 3 again so teams don't usually/typically look to this round for an immediate starter at Left Tackle. That might be a great spot to land someone like BYU's Blake Freeland or an equivalent skillset/talent. In practice, backups and practice squad guys usually are the scout team scrimmaging against the starting defense. That means if the Browns did draft a Left Tackle that won't start early on - he'll get his early training and growing pains against Myles Garrett. That should make it feel a lot easier when/if he gets to go against anyone else. This approach also reminds Wills he begins the year as the starter and what he chooses to do with that ideal opportunity. had a favorite last season in Georgia's Jamaree Salyer being told he had a 4th round grade playing Guard.. He went in the 6th, and now protects Herbert at LT.. he's played really well.. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/jamaree-salyer/32005341-4c81-0806-8b3f-dafba9b9dbf5 surprised no ROTY votes.. Berry's named hot aged list of Tackles.. include.. Tenn.- Darnell Wright 2.Duke-Graham Barton 3. Ga.- Warren McClendon jr I'd grow the list adding to..Dawand Jones. Blake Freeland. Anton Harrison. Ryan Hayes.. Salyer played at Georgia with Warren McClendon jr .. McClendon jr just may fall where Berry could take a risk.. https://www.dawgnation.com/football/nfl-dawgs/warren-mcclendon/SOV5XQ456NGLRJZAZDJTQVIRH4/ McClendon has added some NFL frame at Combine since accident..https://www.nfl.com/prospects/warren-mcclendon-jr/32004d43-4339-6909-f80c-dc33061d9216 here's a peek at the OL graded list.. https://www.nfl.com/combine/tracker/participants/ol/all-colleges/ Not saying Jamaree Salyer's playing LT grows on trees.. but they could be NFL developed by a coach like Bill Callahan. Not our biggest need. But like Mike LB, we need to implant some youth development that just might be a hitter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flugel Posted March 26, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2023 19 hours ago, gumby73 said: had a favorite last season in Georgia's Jamaree Salyer being told he had a 4th round grade playing Guard.. He went in the 6th, and now protects Herbert at LT.. he's played really well.. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/jamaree-salyer/32005341-4c81-0806-8b3f-dafba9b9dbf5 surprised no ROTY votes.. Berry's named hot aged list of Tackles.. include.. Tenn.- Darnell Wright 2.Duke-Graham Barton 3. Ga.- Warren McClendon jr I'd grow the list adding to..Dawand Jones. Blake Freeland. Anton Harrison. Ryan Hayes.. Salyer played at Georgia with Warren McClendon jr .. McClendon jr just may fall where Berry could take a risk.. https://www.dawgnation.com/football/nfl-dawgs/warren-mcclendon/SOV5XQ456NGLRJZAZDJTQVIRH4/ McClendon has added some NFL frame at Combine since accident..https://www.nfl.com/prospects/warren-mcclendon-jr/32004d43-4339-6909-f80c-dc33061d9216 here's a peek at the OL graded list.. https://www.nfl.com/combine/tracker/participants/ol/all-colleges/ Not saying Jamaree Salyer's playing LT grows on trees.. but they could be NFL developed by a coach like Bill Callahan. Not our biggest need. But like Mike LB, we need to implant some youth development that just might be a hitter. Thanks! Since I played Fantasy Football as well as my team name Drink Beer projected last year, Herbert was my QB so I watched some of their games. Salyer was very reliable at LT especially considering all of the athletic reasons he was supposed to be better suited to play Guard in limited space. I agree with your list you'd add. I listed Freeland and Hayes but I wrestled with adding Harrison. The biggest reasons I didn't? A few things in the report concerned me about his pass pro. They list him as the Could Disappoint for his position group due to concerns with his technique and length. The Offensive Tackle position only graded out as a C compared to last year's grade of an A; and being ranked 8th overall as the last guy listed in the 3rd round projection (with a 3rd or 4th round projection). It's good you included him because I probably should have especially now that we have another 3rd round pick. Darnell Wright as a Guard (but so was Salyer for whatever that is worth). North Dakota State's Cody Mauch could also fall into this category of Flexible OT-OG types worth consideration. Again the extent of my research is limited to 1 source during 1 week of vacation so anything you add or get from other sources is good to know... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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