Broncos Draft Reports: Offensive Tackles Part II

*Ereck Flowers (6’6 329), Miami (FL):

Games Evaluated: @ Nebraska, Florida State, Virginia

Run Technique- Could be more consistent in getting his hips and feet under him to seal off defenders. But when he does it, he’s efficient. Gets too high when he reaches the second level.

Hands- Horrendous hand placement. Catches guys on the edge by getting his hands on their shoulder pads; needs to punch them inside more often. Hands can be all over the place, usually too high and wide.

Extension- Has long arms but is negated a lot because of his poor hand placement.

Feet- Has impressively quick feet for his massive size. Pretty solid at mirroring inside moves.

Fluidity- Looks tight in the hips but at least shoots out of his stance with a low pad level.

Strength- Has great upper body strength but needs better technique to employ it more often.

Effort/Toughness- Always looking to make a block that springs his running back, sometimes to a fault by not finishing off his own blocker. However, he can and will drive guys off the spot through whistle.

Instincts- Had occasional mess-ups handling stunts with his guard.

Balance- Balance needs to be improved by keeping his head up while bending and getting low pad level. Shows a great anchor but is sometimes compromised due to not having two feet on the ground on first contact. Also needs to keep his base wider in pass pro.

Athleticism- Gains exceptional ground on the run relative to his size.

OVERVIEW: Flowers is one big dude. Unfortunately, he’s doesn’t connect on many traits you want to see from a first rounder. His hands are terrible both with placement and underwhelming punch. His feet are a mess in pass pro, even though they are quick. He tries to get leverage but it fails him as a blocker at the second level. Luckily, he has a pretty good anchor so there is something to build on. In a perfect world, he could be an effective guard right away. However, even with his anchoring ability, his hands become an even bigger liability inside since he’s more susceptible to bull rushes. Right now, he looks to be a developmental right tackle.

THREE WORDS: Horrible-handed, huge, quick-footed

PROJECTION: 4th round