McGruff's Diamonds - Offensive Line

McGruff · Mar 16, 2016

I'm going do a series of these based on having finally compiled my weighted aggregate draft list based on overall ranking and athletic profiles. As a result, I've seen some surprising names bubble to the top at each position that may be available in the mid to late rounds.

I'm going to try to stick to five players in each group, beginning with the offensive line. We know guys like Ifedi, Spriggs, Clarke and McGovern are going to be high on our list. Here's five more names to consider:

OT/OG Joe Thuney, North Carolina State
6'4", 304 lbs, 32.5 inch arms, 114.8 Sparq Profile (84% percentile)

[youtube]tWNrl5jRivg[/youtube]

Strengths: Quick out of his stance. Stays in front of his man. No one gets around him or by him in pass protection. Thuney keeps his head on a swivel and is excellent at combo blocks, passing off his man and engaging defenders in space. Really good at getting into the pads of linebackers at the second level. You see a lot of good teamwork from him.

Weaknesses: Looks and plays thin throughout his body. Doesn't drive block worth a bean and does get jolted on contact pretty often. Plays moving backwards far too much. Doesn't seem to play aggressive or through the whistle.

Fit for Seattle: He's a bit of a tweener. His skill set says Left Tackle, but he lack the length we look for at the position. If he can gain strength he'd be a good fit at right guard, but would be a bit of a project there.

Attyla the Hawk · Mar 16, 2016

Absolutely love Thuney's tape.

Clemson game is a great one if you want to see him against alpha competition. I think I've watched more of his tape than any other player in this draft (just look up Brissett tape there is a ton of that from 2014/15). Loads of just excellent tape on him. He's a guy with short arms which on paper should be a problem. But on tape the expected liabilities one would assume with sub 33" arms don't manifest themselves. Very good mover. Absolutely love his footwork. Moves laterally extremely well. What stands out too, is just the smarts. Always seems ready for all the tricks thrown at him. He seems like a guy who would be ready and steady day 1 in the NFL. I kind of see him as a Chris Gray doppleganger. A guy you seem to always want to upgrade from. But a guy who just won't get off the field and have a nice 9-10 year career.

On my notes, I actually put down, "Plays well through the whistle. Doesn't bystand. Finds alternative guys to hit". So kind of surprised at the non aggressive weakness put up there.

He's a guy that if we miss out on some of the OL talent in R3 -- I hope we circle back at 126 to get him. And if we go alternative positions in R3 -- that we somehow take him late.

Although he isn't the typical late round archetype for Seattle. We love upside, not ready and steady. We love to get obscure/non combine SPARQ gods from the hinterlands with our R6 and R7 picks. Full 2/3 of all those picks in the PCJS era were non combine invitees. If we don't take him R4/5, I don't see us taking him at all.

McGruff · Mar 16, 2016

OC Jake Brendel, UCLA
6'3", 303 lbs, 31.5 inch arms, 116.6 Sparq (86th percentile)

[youtube]brkwJ7ImidE[/youtube]

Strengths: Consistent snaps and gets his head up in a hurry. Great at combo blocks and excels in space at the second level and on pulls and screens. Does a good job in the run game especially when blocking from an angle. Shows some good tenacity as a run blocker.

Weaknesses: Gets bullied one on one when head to head with a defender. When a pass play breaks down, he gets lost and doesn't always know what to do. Losses his balance too often when reaching for defenders.

Team Fit: His arm length alone will limit him to center, so he has almost know positional versatility. He's a true center only. I like him better as a run blocker, although he's not a mauler, but most centers aren't. The good thing is that I think he has the natural quickness and athleticism to win battles against smaller DT's like Aaron Donald, but Nose Tackles will push him around.

McGruff · Mar 16, 2016

Attyla the Hawk":vrqrkbr4 said:
Absolutely love Thuney's tape.

Clemson game is a great one. He's a guy with short arms which on paper should be a problem. But on tape the expected liabilities one would assume with sub 33" arms don't manifest themselves. Very good mover. Absolutely love his footwork. Moves laterally extremely well. What stands out too, is just the smarts. Always seems ready for all the tricks thrown at him. He seems like a guy who would be ready and steady day 1 in the NFL. I kind of see him as a Chris Gray doppleganger. A guy you seem to always want to upgrade from. But a guy who just won't get off the field and have a nice 9-10 year career.

On my notes, I actually put down, "Plays well through the whistle. Doesn't bystand. Finds alternative guys to hit". So kind of surprised at the non aggressive weakness put up there.

He's a guy that if we miss out on some of the OL talent in R3 -- I hope we circle back at 126 to get him. And if we go alternative positions in R3 -- that we somehow take him late.

Although he isn't the typical late round archetype for Seattle. We love upside, not ready and steady. We love to get obscure/non combine SPARQ gods from the hinterlands with our R6 and R7 picks. Full 2/3 of all those picks in the PCJS era were non combine invitees. If we don't take him R4/5, I don't see us taking him at all.

Good thoughts and a good comparison. I do see some street fighter in him. Strikes as a guy who always went into spring practice with everyone making fun on him, but came out with the starting gig.

McGruff · Mar 16, 2016

OT Brandon Shell, South Carolina
6'5", 324 lbs, 34.5" arms, 122 Sparq (72 percentile)

[youtube]E5ZJsH9gRCc[/youtube]

Strengths: Excellent drive blocker who knows how to use his length to push people around. May be the best pure one on one run blocker I've seen from this class. In pass protection he uses his long wingspan to protect the edges, and does a good job locking on to his man. Plays with apparent passion. Plays with strength

Weaknesses: Really open to pure speed rushers. If they get a first step on him around the edge, its really hard for him to recover. And his chop blocks are comical. Makes JR Sweezy's "falling at air" blocks looks technically sound.

Team Fit: If you were to draw up the ideal left guard for Seattle, Shell might be it. At tackle his lack of quickness is exposed, but inside his length, strength, and power would be a thing to behold. Looks a lot like James Carpenter, except we might be able to get him in the 5th round instead of the 1st.

Attyla the Hawk · Mar 16, 2016

Seriously, I just touted these two guys on SDB like yesterday or the day before referencing alternatives to the OL heavy day 1/2 drafts or the trade up/Joe Thomas scenario. We're seeing these guys eye to eye.

Shell to me is an R6 kind of guy on tape. Kind of in that 150 to 200 overall range. Competes with Fahn Cooper/Willie Beavers, Denver Kirkland, Cole Toner range of prospects. Depending on how the first picks shake out -- kind of see him as a pocket of talent guy along with Joe Dahl. I think Shell fits the LG prototype very well. However with the signing of Webb -- I think it's more unlikely we go with a LG prototype. Webb is a swing guy for OT/LG.

Not as good as Garrett Scott was for us in 2014. Probably not a good enough mover to be on our board. But his ability to knock guys off the block is extremely nice. Possibly ill fitting for our scheme. However I would consider his drive blocking to be a unique talent for a guy in the middle of day three. Or really at the top of day 2. He's pretty good at it.

Hawks46 · Mar 16, 2016

Seriously, I appreciate the effort and time you guys put in on this.

I don't have the time to do it, and it's very informative to me. Plus, you guys likely could grade OL much better than I ever could so there's that as well. :evil:

SomersetHawk · Mar 16, 2016

Cool topic. Nice finds.

Would have preferred a title that read 'Diamonds in the McGruff' though.

McGruff · Mar 16, 2016

SomersetHawk":32qj8arl said:
Cool topic. Nice finds.

Would have preferred a title that read 'Diamonds in the McGruff' though.

Ooooh. That's gooooood.

McGruff · Mar 16, 2016

OT Connor McGovern
6'4", 306 lbs, 33 inch arms, 118 Sparq (89th Percentile)
I know I said I wouldn't cover him because he's so well known, but right now I have him as the 4th rated lineman overall, ahead of guys like Spriggs, Stanley and even Conklin.

[youtube]h53n06rNgJc[/youtube]

Strengths: Tenacious bull of a blocker who simply doesn't let up. As a run blocker, he will put his man into the ground. As a pass blocker he is a lock on blocker. Once he gets his hands on you, its over. Makes excellent use of his hands and arms. Patient to bring his arms up, giving him a solid base, but his hands are quick. He's also quick to recover when beat. Does a good job blocking his area against multiple defenders by using his reach to divert.

Weaknesses: Not as quick out of his step as he needs to be, and his back pedal doesn't get much initial depth. He usually recovers against speed, but it is a weakness at the next level. At the second level he can sometimes struggle to locate and reach. Comes froma quick release spread system, no its hard to evaluate how he will do in a pro system.

Team fit: McGovern could play LT in the NFL, but is probably better suited inside at RG or even center. That makes him a little redundant with the similarily athletic Glowinski, but everything about McGovern scream Seahawks. I love this kid, both his athletic profile and his tape.

McGruff · Mar 16, 2016

OT Joe haeg, North Dakota St.
6'6", 304, 33" arms, 109 Sparq (64th percentile)

[youtube]iW_Jnao5oBM[/youtube]

Strengths: Shows great agility and speed in space. Good athlete. Demonstrates good technique overall. Wide stance in his lower body that gives him a good anchor. A lot of the tools are there and his experience at the position shows.

Weaknesses: Lacks strength throughout his frame, but especially in his core and lower body. As a result you don't see a lot of power in the running game and he gets pushed back in pass protection. Like I said, the technique is there, but his strength is lacking. And while he comes from a system that should make for a smooth transition, the competition leap is astronomical.

Team fit: His quickness, agility and technique make him an ideal fit for the zone blocking scheme, but he needs a lot of weight room training before he's ready for the NFL. And while he's shows good tenacity and "want to" I just don't know if Cable will be drawn to someone who is so weak physically.

Attyla the Hawk · Mar 16, 2016

McGruff":3q3yhy4n said:
... right now I have him as the 4th rated lineman overall, ahead of guys like Spriggs, Stanley and even Conklin.

[youtube]h53n06rNgJc[/youtube]

Pretty heady. Agreed he's probably graded extremely high on Seattle's board. Wouldn't even be the least surprised if we took him at #56 despite the real possibility he could be there at #126.

I would prefer McGovern to Spriggs. Conklin to me is a run to the podium OT prospect and one of the few that I could see us packaging a move up 5 or so spots if he fell past Indy. I have Conklin as my #2 OL and virtual dead heat with Tunsil as far as Seahawk grading goes. Stanley to me seems like an Andrus Peat kind of 1st rounder. I don't really like him but he's been rated so highly for so long I think he gets there on sheer expectation.

I see McGovern as one of the "can't leave the draft without" guys. Seattle could chance it on the strong possibility he's there at #90. And Schneider is really very good at reading the draft board. However the Skins and Packers pick at 84 and 88. I think both of them will be on McGovern as well and I don't think we'd risk losing out on him.

Seattle will draft ahead of expected position if they have to. I think we'd probably go no further back than 70 to risk not getting him (NY Giants are in the OL market). At that point, it may not be feasible or worth the risk to move down 20 or so spots.

Overall, I think McGovern is the one player in this draft that has the highest probability of getting picked by Seattle. He seems like he was created out of Seattle's OL catalog from scratch. And that was before the combine. If we're looking at grading versus the current roster, I can't see a greater delta than McGovern at OG/OC.

Scottemojo · Mar 16, 2016

I like Mcgovern. He just looks strong.

kearly · Mar 16, 2016

I don't think McGovern is nearly as athletic in cleats and pads as he is in spandex. On the field, he seems like a very average physical specimen with decent core strength. I was kind of shocked seeing how slow he looked on the move.

That said, I think he has all the tools he needs to be a nice LG for some team. He has the core strength he needs to muscle, turn, or drive defenders. He mirrors well in pass protection and is stout against the bull rush. His posture and footwork are both good enough to play LT in the NFL, but his arm length and punch strength are not.

I think if Seattle added him it would be like bringing in another Mark Glowinsky. You could do a lot worse with a 4th round pick.

Fun fact: Check out the NFL.com 'NFL COMPARISON' for Glowinsky. Now check the same for McGovern.

Hawkscanner · Mar 16, 2016

Scottemojo":1uty32k0 said:
I like McGovern. He just looks strong.

I like McGovern too Scott. He was 2nd only to Westerman in the Bench at the combine (McGovern put up 32, Westerman put up 33) and the 2nd most reps of any lineman overall. And boy does it show. I mean, look at him just plow his man in to the turf on many occasions in that footage there against South Carolina. He shows good overall feet and agility as well in pass protection. McGovern is perhaps my favorite lineman in this draft and I'm just hoping he's not as high on other teams' lists as he is on mine.

penihawk · Mar 17, 2016

This years Mitch Morse? The guy everybody has us drafting that we don't.

Attyla the Hawk · Mar 18, 2016

penihawk":322xu8o9 said:
This years Mitch Morse? The guy everybody has us drafting that we don't.

We didn't have a chance at Morse. So it wasn't that we didn't draft him. More that we couldn't.

There is sufficient evidence out there (circumstantial but from numerous sources) that Morse was very high on our list. We can't know if we would have taken him over Clark. I don't think we expected Clark to still be on the board and the pass rush talent really did fall off the map after Clark.

McGovern should be a guy we have a couple cracks at.

penihawk · Mar 18, 2016

That's the same thoughts on Morse last year. That was kinda my point not that we didn't want him. 2-3 rd talent that we could get in rd 4-5 but didn't turn out that way.

QuahHawk · Mar 18, 2016

Any chance you will do one of these for DL?

cover-2 · Mar 19, 2016

Attyla the Hawk":7pd4ot5f said:
McGruff":7pd4ot5f said:

... right now I have him as the 4th rated lineman overall, ahead of guys like Spriggs, Stanley and even Conklin.

[youtube]h53n06rNgJc[/youtube]

Click to expand...

Pretty heady. Agreed he's probably graded extremely high on Seattle's board. Wouldn't even be the least surprised if we took him at #56 despite the real possibility he could be there at #126.

I would prefer McGovern to Spriggs. Conklin to me is a run to the podium OT prospect and one of the few that I could see us packaging a move up 5 or so spots if he fell past Indy. I have Conklin as my #2 OL and virtual dead heat with Tunsil as far as Seahawk grading goes. Stanley to me seems like an Andrus Peat kind of 1st rounder. I don't really like him but he's been rated so highly for so long I think he gets there on sheer expectation.

I see McGovern as one of the "can't leave the draft without" guys. Seattle could chance it on the strong possibility he's there at #90. And Schneider is really very good at reading the draft board. However the Skins and Packers pick at 84 and 88. I think both of them will be on McGovern as well and I don't think we'd risk losing out on him.

Seattle will draft ahead of expected position if they have to. I think we'd probably go no further back than 70 to risk not getting him (NY Giants are in the OL market). At that point, it may not be feasible or worth the risk to move down 20 or so spots.

Overall, I think McGovern is the one player in this draft that has the highest probability of getting picked by Seattle. He seems like he was created out of Seattle's OL catalog from scratch. And that was before the combine. If we're looking at grading versus the current roster, I can't see a greater delta than McGovern at OG/OC.

IMO McGovern isn't going to make it out of the 2nd round and we would be fortunate if he were still available #56. If he starts for us at OC, then I think there are going to be some growing pains the first half of the season. So for me I would start him at LG as a rookie.

McGruff's Diamonds - Offensive Line

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