NFL draft positional rankings: Tunsil, Stanley lead O-tackle group
Leading up to the NFL draft on April 28-30, Shutdown Corner will examine each position, rank the top players at each spot and identify some sleepers, sliders and lesser-known gems.
An offensive tackle could be the first pick in the 2016 NFL draft, and as many as three could go in the draft’s first 10 picks. Is that a good idea?
Recent top-10 picks spent on tackles have not been the safe investments you’ve been led to believe. The next time an analyst comments on how “such and such team” needs to draft “so and so tackle” so that he can “be their starter for the next 10-15 years,” you have permission to slap them upside the head with a tire iron. Preferably a rusty one.
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There have been 17 top-10 tackles (and a few more who went just outside the top 10), and only a handful of them have been rock steady options.
D’Brickashaw Ferguson might be released by the New York Jets this offseason, but he gave them an excellent decade. Joe Thomas has been the Cleveland Browns’ best draft pick the past 15-20 years. Eugene Monroe, Andre Smith, Russell Okung have been solid pros. Trent Williams has been very good, Tyron Smith even better. Lane Johnson has been good, and Jake Matthews might be very good one day. But after that, there are a lot of misses in that range.
Is that why Ole Miss’ Laremy Tunsil to the Tennessee Titans at No. 1 doesn’t feel so automatic?
It’s nothing against Tunsil, per se, who has the look of a future star. But many of the other busts or possible busts in recent years — Greg Robinson, Eric Fisher, Luke Joeckel and Matt Kalil to name a few — had that same look in college.
Looking at the class as a whole, this group of offensive tackles looks solid. And there’s depth, too. It’s wrong to suggest that tackles are a high-bust position, as many others from lower in Round 1, and even deeper into the draft, pan out as good pros.
With that in mind, this could be a good year to find one. Tunsil heads our list, followed by Notre Dame’s Ronnie Stanley, and a pair of Big Ten tackles that appear to be first-rounders in Michigan State’s Jack Conklin and Ohio State’s Taylor Decker. There even could be a fifth first-rounder at tackle, which would be tied for the most at that position since 2011.
Shutdown Corner’s Top 10 offensive tackles for 2016
1. Laremy Tunsil, Ole Miss — 6-foot-5, 310 pounds — Light-footed, super-athletic, prototypical left tackle that shut down many of the top rushers in college football’s best conference
2. Ronnie Stanley, Notre Dame — 6-6, 312 — Long, athletic, highly intelligent and fluid blocker who is a bit grabby and could stand to get a little grittier
3. Jack Conklin, Michigan State — 6-6, 308 — Scrappy, blue-collar, long-limbed and underrated athletically, Conkiln did a number on Oregon DE DeForest Buckner
4. Taylor Decker, Ohio State — 6-7, 310 — Massive, smart, highly competitive technician who will add toughness to a line but might struggle with speed
5. Jason Spriggs, Indiana — 6-6, 301 — Highly athletic, battled-tested and surprisingly strong, Spriggs would fit ideally in a zone-blocking scheme for offense using tempo
6. Le’Raven Clark, Texas Tech — 6-5, 314 — Long-limbed project with holes in his game but enough quickness and mass to invest in for long-term gains
7. Shon Coleman, Auburn — 6-5, 307 — Big power blocker who beat leukemia and can bury defenders but has been injury-prone and will turn 25 this year
8. Willie Beavers, Western Michigan — 6-5, 324 — Light-footed for how massive he is, Beavers also looked good at guard at Senior Bowl practices but in need of refinement
9. Brandon Shell, South Carolina — 6-5, 324 — College left tackle who might be best on the right side but has starter potential if his technique is cleaned up
10. Joe Haeg, North Dakota State — 6-6, 306 — Blind-side blocker for Carson Wentz the past two years, Haeg has athleticism, toughness but is not a mauler
Positional grade: B
With two top-10 possibilities, at least four first-rounders and maybe a half-dozen more tackles that could go in the draft’s first 75 picks, this is a good group. Whether it’s a great one might depend on a late sleeper or two developing, or perhaps a few of the middle-class prospects being better than anticipated. A very respectable crop of talent here.
Sleeper
Stephane Nembot, Colorado
Nembot has a pretty good story, having been born in Cameroon and able to speak three languages and 11 African dialects. He grew up playing just about every sport other than football (basketball was his first love) before playing one year of high school football and going on to start for parts of four seasons at left tackle for the Buffaloes. Nembot is a straight-ahead power blocker who lacks lateral agility; the scouting combine testing drills made that clear. But in a power-man scheme where he can use his 6-7, 322-pound frame and his 35-inch arms and 11-inch hands to lock in on defenders, Nembot could be an effective developmental talent at tackle. His character rates off the charts, and he is regarded as a top-notch worker.
Small-school wonder
Dominique Robertson, West Georgia
The former Texas Tech transfer is a massive specimen at 6-5 and 324 pounds, and he possesses an incredible wingspan of nearly 87 inches. Why did he transfer to the Division II school? Well, anger-management issues followed him from Lubbock, Texas to Carrollton, Ga., and Robertson got in trouble before the 2015 season in an incident in which he was arrested after a police officer was injured. Robertson was also charged with resisting arrest. His character concerns have knocked Robertson off a few teams’ boards, and he didn’t dominate at the NFLPA all-star game the way scouts had hoped. But he has enough power, mass and nastiness in his play to possibly be drafted on Day 3 and be an intriguing prospect if he can stay focused and out of trouble.
More on NFL prospects
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
