| First in a series of articles previewing the top NFL prospects, by
position, for the 2000 draft. This year’s OL crop has some good-looking tackles
but very little to write home about at guard or center. The highest-rated lineman in this
year’s class is Alabama’s Chris Samuels, a fifth-year senior
who broke into the starting lineup early in the 1996 season and has not missed a start
since. What scouts like best about Samuels is his overall athleticism. Their biggest
concern about him is that at 6-foot-5¼, 290 pounds, he is on the small side by
today’s NFL standards.
What makes Samuels so good is his athletic ability. He is very light on his feet, moves
well from side to side, can bend his knees and play with leverage and has good power and
explosion in his hand punch. He has the speed and agility to lead plays down the field,
and the balance and body control to play the game on his feet. He is also athletic enough
to recover when he gets beaten most of the time, and he has been a very durable player
with more than 40 consecutive starts. In the past, two of the knocks against Samuels were
that he was too much of a finesse blocker and that at times he would lose his
concentration and have lapses. But he has worked to erase those knocks this year, and
based on film grades, he would have to be considered the finest blocker in the country.
For years, when you thought of the best guard and center in Alabama history, John Hannah
and Dwight Stephenson immediately came to mind. Based on the way Samuels played as a
senior, you can pencil his name in alongside those two Hall of Famers as the best tackle
the Crimson Tide has produced.
Wisconsin’s Chris McIntosh looked like a small guy compared to
Aaron Gibson last season, but in reality McIntosh is huge, and he is a much better college
football player than Gibson was. At 6-6¼, 315, McIntosh looks almost skinny at times. He
has always been a left tackle and has always lined up in a left-handed stance. After
redshirting in ’95, McIntosh has started every game the past four years and has been
the Badgers’ best and most consistent blocker, even though he played with a broken
right thumb in ’98. His greatest strength is blocking for the run and the great Ron
Dayne. McIntosh can be overpowering and maul the man playing across from him. Although the
two knocks against him concern his feet and pass-protection skills, he is hardly a stiff
or a non-athlete who must play in a phone booth to be effective. While he is no Samuels,
McIntosh can mirror and slide. He does need work on his pass sets and must get more
experience pass blocking. Because he has never had to do much pass blocking and has always
been a left tackle who plays in a left-handed stance, if McIntosh is not a good enough
pass protector to be a left tackle in the NFL, it may be difficult for him to make the
move to the right side, where he would have to learn to do everything the other way. As
things stand now, McIntosh has some trouble with the outside speed rush when pass
blocking. He will overextend at times, and because he is so tall, he sometimes will have
problems bending his knees and playing with leverage.
Oklahoma’s Stockar McDougle has a chance to become an Erik
Williams type of right tackle if he can improve his pass-protection skills and consistency
and cut down on his penalties. McDougle is a huge, nasty player with natural strength and
explosion. He comes off the ball well and is a really strong, explosive player who can
roll his hips and crush defenders. But while he is big, athletic and has some recovery
ability, he still will struggle as a pass blocker much of the time. Defenders run around
McDougle too much. He is slow to react to new looks at times, can get confused by stunts
and has a history of penalties. Some scouts question whether he has a feel for pass
blocking and feel that it will always be a problem for him. Others point out that McDougle
is a junior-college transfer who never played in an offense that threw the ball much until
this year and that he has improved by leaps and bounds over last season, when he was not a
full-fledged starter and seemed to be getting flagged by the officials all game long.
Mississippi’s Todd Wade has improved every year and may have been
the best offensive lineman in the Southeastern Conference this season aside from Samuels.
A right tackle who has started since the second game of the ’97 season, Wade has
improved every year, but he still seems to have some lapses in concentration and also
needs to improve his consistency and technique. At 6-7¾, 320, his size is generally a
plus, but at times his height can be a negative because he has a hard time getting low
enough to play with good leverage. Although he moves well for a player his size, Wade
struggles with a good outside speed rush, and speed rushers who can counter back inside
can really give him a hard time. Still, with experience and technique, Wade should get
better.
If Boston College’s Darnell Alford will pay the price, he can
become a very good tackle. In the past, the knock on Alford was that he would play well
early but then, because he was overweight and in less-than-ideal shape, he would run out
of gas quickly and start getting lazy about bending his knees and would be a half-step
late getting out of his stance. Alford is in better shape and is playing harder and
competing better this season, but he still is not the player he could or should be. With
his natural size, good balance, body control, feet and hand use, Alford has the tools to
be everything scouts want in a right tackle, and he might even be able to line up on the
left side of the line. When he is not tired and is at the top of his game, he looks like
an All-American, but he rarely plays at that level from start to finish in a game.
Tennessee’s Chad Clifton is a 330-pound offensive tackle with
impressive workout numbers, but he really does not do a good job of translating those
numbers to the football field. When scouts look at what Clifton has done in the weight
room, they think he is a really special athlete. But on film he does not look that
athletic, and very often he is a little late coming off the ball. He also has a tendency
to play stiff-kneed. Some people blame a lot of his problems on his concentration, but
this is something he may be able to overcome, and it has nothing to do with his
intelligence or learning ability.
Arkansas’ Bobby Williams is a big, fairly athletic mauler type
who can be overpowering and can also bend his knees and slide his feet. His lack of
consistency and attention to detail are concerns.
The top center in this year’s class is Virginia’s John St. Clair,
but at almost 6-5 he is too tall for some scouts’ liking, and he has a hard time
playing with good leverage against a low-to-the-ground nose tackle because of his long
legs. St. Clair can get position and lock out with his arms, and he generally plays the
game on his feet. While he may not look nifty, he is fairly athletic, has quick hands and
gives good effort.
Although he played right tackle and played it well as a senior, many regard USC’s Travis
Claridge as an OG candidate. He is not overly athletic, but scouts like his size,
toughness, intangibles and intensity.
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