2020 Draft Board: Offensive Tackles

**Note: changes have been made since the draft happened. I spent May and June adjusting my process by setting strict parameters and adding all combine participants from 2008-2017. Those two improvements caused major changes to my factors and table, which means some players that were on my draft board have been removed, some players that were removed from my draft board have been put back on it, and some players have seen a drastic shift in the round grades they were originally given.

Continuing my Draft Board next we look at the Offensive Tackles. I wasn’t planning on tackling the Offensive Lineman at first, because basic statistics aren’t tracked for them. But I decided to give it a shot. To determine which players from 2008-2017 were successful I based it off of their average number of games played, number of seasons spent in the NFL versus the number of seasons they could have played, how many times they made the Pro Bowl and how many times they were selected First Team All-Pro. And then I used strictly their Combine results to look for a correlation between successful O-Lineman and those who were unsuccessful. I was surprised, but I did manage to find a couple of things, so keep reading.

Players Eliminated:

I was able to eliminate 6 Offensive Tackles for various reasons. As you can see they are all marked an "E" next to their name, which means they all received my “Empty” label, if you are wondering what that label means check the Draft Boards for the QBs, RBs or WRs. They are:

Colton McKivitz (E)

Isaiah Wilson (E)

Terence Steele (E)

Trey Adams (E)

Tyre Phillips (E)

Yasir Durant (E)

*Also, worth noting I moved two players (Saahdiq Charles and Ben Bartch) over to my Interior O-Lineman draft board due to their shorter arm lengths.

The Table

After I eliminated players, I created a table to determine the Draft Round I would attach to each remaining player. I used their combine results to determine the chances of them being drafted in the first three rounds by setting a low extreme and high extreme for each stat. If they had more low extremes than their draft grade fell, more high extremes and it rose.

My Draft Board

My Top 5:

1) Ezra Cleveland (Boise State)

Analysis: Like Iowa (read Wirfs’ analysis and you’ll understand) Boise State understands the quality over quantity aspect as well. Boise State put out three successful O-Lineman compared to one unsuccessful from 08-17. Two of them were late round picks (Charles Leno and Matt Paradis). Cleveland has first round talent, even more so, he has first-round athleticism. He coupled his 4.93 forty with 30(!) reps on the bench and his 3 Cone Drill was borderline freaky as he is 1 of 11 Offensive Line Combine participants since 2008 (including 2018 and 19) to run their 3 Cone Drill in under 7.3.

2) Mekhi Becton (Louisville)

Analysis: If it weren’t for Becton’s crazy size-speed ratio (364 pounds with a 5.1 forty) he would have been lower on my list. He was unable to perform most of the combine tests and due to the Coronavirus, we won’t see him do any of the tests at his pro day. Still, he’s way too much of an athletic freak, who also has a sound skill set, to punish for being unable to complete a few more tests.

3) Tristan Wirfs (Iowa)

Analysis: I love the fact that he came out of Iowa who put out three quality first-third round Lineman from 2008-2017 with zero unsuccessful Lineman during that span. Now you might be thinking “three isn’t that many”, but it is. Five was the highest number of successful Lineman, which was put out by Wisconsin, but they also exported four unsuccessful Lineman during that span. Only two other teams matched Iowa’s 3-0 success rate- Missouri and Virginia. Notre Dame was close with 4 successful and 1 unsuccessful. So, Iowa may not be a quantity factory like Wisconsin, but they definitely understand quality. And finally, Wirfs hit a factor that has led to 100% success for the Offensive Tackles that were drafted from 2008-2017 that also had that factor.

4) Jedrick Wills (Alabama)

Analysis: He was slightly above average or at the higher end of average in most of the athletic tests that he performed at the combine. He comes from a school that runs a relatively pro-style offense, which is a good thing when evaluating Offensive Line talent. And he was a stud on Alabama’s O-Line last year. I don’t think he’s done anything to hurt his draft status.

5) Austin Jackson (USC)

Analysis: Jackson has really good athleticism considering the 322 pounds that he carries. The 5.07 forty, 31” Vertical and 115” Broad Jump will back me up in that. He also has good upper-body strength (27 reps on the Bench Press), which would tie him for second among the Offensive Tackles in this draft, including the ones that I removed from my draft board. I like him as a mid-late first round Tackle prospect who could succeed at either side of the Line.

Sleeper: Alex Taylor (South Carolina State)

Analysis: The only reason Taylor doesn’t receive a first-round projection from me is because he played at an FCS school. His 116” Broad Jump was very impressive. He stands 6’8 and has 36.12” arms. All of the rest of his athletic testing was average to above average, and he clearly showed something at SC State otherwise he wouldn’t have received an invite to the Combine. I would take a chance on him in the second (and I hope my team gets an opportunity to do so). Side note, Taylor also hit on a factor that has led to 100% success for the Offensive Tackles that were drafted from 2008-2017 that also had that factor (not the same one as Tristan Wirfs).