STRENGTHS
Brandon has the talent and potential to be a very good offensive lineman. That potential includes talent to be as good as the Eagles Jason Peters. He is quick out of his stance and his lateral agility might be the best out of any of the offensive lineman in this draft. He has the foot quickness to keep himself on balance and mirror his opponent when pass blocking. He is smart and athletic enough to keep his composer when he gets beat and when he does get beat, he can turn his hips and push his man up the field past the pocket. He also has the demeanor you look for in a Left Tackle for the next level. Brandon learns from his mistakes. He does a good job adjusting and analyses how to counteract defensive player’s moves and is quick to use that information on the next series of plays. At the Senior Bowl practices he improved every day until his level of play matched his opponents. Brandon is well worth the time and energy it will take to develop him into a top offensive lineman because he has the talent and potential to be a pro bowl Left Tackle.

CONCERNS
Brandon has to build up his core strength and upper body to match the strength level of competition he will be up against in the NFL. He will also have to learn to bring his feet when run blocking and not fall off his blocks. Brandon does an excellent job of firing off the line from a three point stance, at an excellent pad level but once he engages he stops his feet and tries to outmuscle his opponent losing leverage. Not bringing his feet after he engages makes Brandon easy to shed because he is off balance and lunging. Brandon does a good job when pass blocking he just has to be more constant with his hand placement and in general more consistent mentally.

BOTTOM LINE
Improving Brandon’s run blocking techniques and building up his core strength and upper body, should be the recipe for him to reach his full potential. Yes, moving to the NFL level of competition might have him take a step back, before he goes forward but that’s to be expected. As a pass blocker Brandon’s talent, size, lateral agility and quickness along with his excellent football IQ and personal demeanor, should allow him to improve quicker that most players would coming from the level of competition he has played at and this is a big positive for a Left Tackle prospect. I really do think that Brandon has a bright future in the NFL. Like I said before, he improved every day at Senior Bowl practice and the buzz about him was unmistakable from the coaches. There wasn’t an offensive line coach at those practices that didn’t notice this kid’s talent and improvement all week long.

Drew Boylhart   MAR.2018