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 Evaluating this year's linemen
Posted: Wednesday April 14, 1999 12:33 PM
There is a battle going on among line coaches over who is the best left tackle in this year's draft. The answer may really depend upon what a team is looking for and whether the player was impressive in workouts. When asked about John Tait from BYU, his supporters talk about his 25-pound muscle gain since the season. They also talk about his effort, intelligence and pass blocking skills. On the other hand, Tait's critics say his run blocking leaves something to be desired. One coach was also very concerned about linebackers who physically dominated Tait. He cited the Utah game in which he says Tait was on the ground 20 times.
The other top left tackle candidate is Lonnie Shelton from Eastern Michigan. Shelton impressed NFL people at the Senior Bowl, but since then he's put on 20 pounds and some consider him too heavy at 341. Also his tape study indicated that he's a great athlete who doesn't always play hard and finish plays. At center, everyone's top player is Damien Woody out of Boston College, but weight is an issue for him as well. Two coaches expressed concern that while he played at 315, and was 328 at the combine, last week he was at 335. If he tips the scale at 340 in two weeks, that will send up a red flag. At guard, Doug Brzezinski from Boston College is still regarded as the top candidate. However, the outlook at the position is changing because other players had good workouts. A long-time NFL line coach I respect re-stacked his guard list as of Monday and he mentioned three guards he'd place alongside Brzezinski. Brandon Burlsworth of Arkansas, his No. 1 guard, plays with intensity and explosiveness, but he needs some pass blocking work. David Leverne of San Jose State gets high grades for toughness, and athletic ability and if his arms were longer than 31 1/2 inches he might stick at his college position of left tackle. And Notre Dame's Jerry Wisne had a great workout last week, running 5.02 in the 40, and 4.31 in the short shuttle to go along with 34 reps on the bench. All of this goes to show you that talent is in the eye of the beholder and sometimes, the more we study players, the easier it is to overanalyze and the tougher it gets to arrive at a conclusion. Pat Kirwan, who spent 12 years in the NFL as a coach and scout, is an NFL analyst for CNN/SI.
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