Broncos Draft Reports: Offensive Tackles Part III
By Dan Armelli
Sep 20, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Texas A&M Aggies offensive linesman Cedric Ogbuehi (70) looks to block Southern Methodist Mustangs linebacker Robert Seals (30) at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Texas A&M beat Southern Methodist 58-6. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Conclusion
Watching Andrus Peat was quite an experience. I had to start with a game from 2013 (against Notre Dame) since I couldn’t find enough film from 2014. I thought he was pretty bad. I was also upset because I had to watch his left guard partner David Yankey, who was atrocious when I attempted to watch him last year.
But Peat got progressively better as I watched him. The three games that I watched basically went from bad, to okay, to pretty good. Putting all of those tapes together, I think you get a 2nd round talent.
As for Ty Sambrailo, I’m not convinced he isn’t a tackle (sorry for the double negative). However, his short arms do show up on tape. It’s not on every play, but it’s enough to give me some pause. Nate Orchard of Utah exposed this in their bowl game this year.
He’s towards the bottom of my OT rankings, but I think he can develop into a better player. Again, I’m not ruling out him being able to play tackle, but I do think it’s more likely he’ll find success at guard. Whereas his weakness as a tackle comes from a measurable standpoint, his weakness as a guard can be developed.
The one thing you get every single play from Sambrailo is effort.
My favorite tackle out of this group, even though he’s not the highest graded, is Cedric Ogbuehi. Like Peat, he was another guy I saw whose weakness got better as I watched him. I’m specifically talking about his hands.
Overall, his hands are inconsistent. However, it was fascinating to me to actually see improvement over time. He doesn’t have the most powerful hands and his placement is shoddy, but he improved from being terrible in this area to inconsistent. It sounds silly, but that’s a good thing. With prospects, it’s always a good thing to see improvement from year-to-year or game-to-game.
Ced just looks the part too, or at least his base does. At 306, he could put on some more weight. He really needs to add to his upper body, specifically. That’s why I pegged him as a 3rd rounder; I see potential but I also don’t think that potential will be seen right away.
Also, note that he’s coming off an ACL tear, which I did not factor into my grading because it’s really hard to be objective about injuries when you’re an outsider, especially if it’s a first-time big injury. For what it’s worth, the only time I’ve factored injury into a grade was last year with Dominique Easley (had ACL surgery on both knees).
Lastly, here are my up-to-date offensive tackle rankings (*indicates underclassman):
- La’el Collins, LSU
- D.J. Humphries, Florida
- T.J. Clemmings, Pittsburgh
- *Andrus Peat, Stanford
- Jake Fisher, Oregon
- Cedric Ogbuehi, Texas A&M
- Ty Sambrailo, Colorado State
- *Ereck Flowers, Miami (FL)