NFL draft profile: Ole Miss OT Laremy Tunsil, nimble-footed manchild

Shutdown Corner is counting down the top 50 prospects in the 2016 NFL draft with a scouting report, quotes from NFL evaluators and a projection where they might be drafted.

2. Ole Miss OT Laremy Tunsil
6-foot-5, 311 pounds

Key stat: Has missed games in all three seasons at Ole Miss, including seven via suspension in 2015 while the NCAA found he received impermissable benefits and was unthuthful when asked about it. Came back to start Rebels’ final six games.

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The skinny: Top-tier prep prospect played as true freshman for Ole Miss, starting nine games in 2013 at left tackle. Held ownership of the position the following two seasons, despite injuries, and became one of the elite blockers in the country. He suffered a left knee injury against Mississippi State in 2013 and missed the Music City Bowl against Georgia Tech. Tunsil also tore his biceps in 2014, missing two games, and later suffered a dislocated ankle and fractured fibula that knocked him out against TCU in the Peach Bowl that season.

After Tunsil returned to the lineup following the suspension in 2015, he shut down one of the best pass rushers in the country in Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett in his first game back and faced a battery of elite rushers thereafter, holding most of them in check, too. Tunsil scored a 2-yard TD run in his final game, which was a sendoff gift from the coaching staff. He has elite foot quickness, ideal dimensions for a blind-side blocker and has good upper-body pop. He tested well at the NFL combine and his pro day (especially in the OL “mirror” drills, which were exceptionally clean) but didn’t quite display the elite athletic numbers some thought he would. NFL teams felt the need to dig more into his background when they found out he was in the hotel room the night teammate Robert Nkemdiche fell from a fourth-floor window.

Best-suited destination: With a rare combination of size, power and athleticism, Tunsil is your textbook left tackle. His tape shows a great feel for the game, especially when he’s able to move in space and get out to the second level. However, we don’t peg him strictly to a zone-blocking system, as he has the ability to lock out, drive and put defenders on their backs, even in close quarters. He’s a battle-tested run blocker against some of the best fronts in the country in the SEC and should be a grade-A performer in this regard from Day 1. Leverage rushers with power and speed could trouble him at first, and he’s still lacking in experience having missed time every season, but Tunsil has Pro Bowl potential in time.

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Reason he’ll rise in draft: The San Diego Chargers, sitting at No. 3, figure to be his peak potential. They have looked hard at him, and there are a number of teams in the top 10 picks that would consider themselves lucky to land what they believe is the best left tackle in the draft. The run at the position could begin quickly.

Reason he’ll fall in draft: After the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns traded out of the top two spots, it guaranteed Tunsil’s fall to at least No. 3 for the player most projected to be taken first as recently as a few weeks ago. But now? The Chargers could pass on him, and the Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars might feel that an offensive tackle is too much of a positional luxury there. Could Tunsil fall from first to at least sixth through no real fault of his own? It’s entirely possible. If there’s a knock on him, it’s that he’s missed a lot of games the past three years.

Scouting hot take: “I go back to that [A&M] tape, and a year from now when {Garrett] is going top three, we’ll be reminded how good [Tunsil] was there. Same with [LSU’s] Arden Key, locked him down well too. The bowl game [against Emmanuel Ogbah]? Dominant.” — AFC college scouting director

Player comp: Tyron Smith

Expected draft range: Top 10 pick

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10. North Dakota State QB Carson Wentz
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4. Ohio State RB Ezekiel Elliott
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