Alijah Vera-Tucker OL/OG USC

STRENGTHS
Alijah has played Left Tackle for his college team but his size and athletic talent fits a guard position at the next level for the team that selects him. He has quick feet to mirror his opponent and the hand techniques that most offensive tackles wished they had. Alijah is quick out of his stance and is tenacious when run blocking playing until he hears the whistle. His foot speed and quickness should allow him to be used on sweeps and screens blocking for those fast, running backs without any problems. Alijah has the talent to play more than one position on your offensive line in a pinch but, his impact position at the next level will most likely be at one of the guard positions or center.

CONCERNS
Alijah plays light…by that I mean, he is easily moved around because he needs better lower body strength or as we like to say, a little more junk in the trunk. I’m not convinced his body type will allow him to gain more lower weight so, playing guard will be a struggle for him physically. If Alijah can prove he can play center then it will help his draft status but even at center, at his size, and lack of lower density he will struggle with a powerful nose tackle or with stunts.

BOTTOM LINE 3.17
Alijah can be a productive player in the NFL if he is in the right offense-line blocking system. Playing center would help his draft status but there will be teams that will struggle with his lack of leverage when blocking for the run, along with his lack of lower body strength. If Alijah can prove that he can play center, his style of play would most likely mimic Buffalo Bills center, Mitch Morse. If he can gain some lower density and learn to fire out at a better pad level he could be a solid guard. But if not then Alijah would be the type of offensive lineman who could play guard or tackle in a pinch, enough to be considered as a swing or backup offensive lineman. At least that’s what I see, on film. He’s a tweener, too small to play tackle, too light to play guard, and has never proven he can play center.