This is the fifth in a series previewing each position in the April 29-May 1 NFL draft. Todayโs installment looks at interior offensive linemen.
When it comes to evaluating offensive linemen, NFL teams almost always take a three-dimensional view.
Regardless of where a player was used most in college, his pro projections can be tackle, guard, center โฆ or all three.
Size tends to be the primary determinant, though athleticism and skill level are also factors.
Multiple offensive linemen fall into that category within this yearโs college crop, starting with the player widely seen as the best of the bunch, USCโs Alijah Vera-Tucker.
Vera-Tucker had a highly impressive 2020 season at tackle for the Trojans. After earning USCโs offensive lineman of the year award while playing left guard in 2019, Vera-Tucker performed well enough at left tackle last year to receive first-team All-Pac 12 honors and win the conferenceโs Morris Trophy, based on voting by opposing players. The โ19 winner was Oregonโs Penei Sewell, widely seen as the best NFL tackle prospect this year.
โIโm glad I played left tackle, because now I feel I can play either one,โ Vera-Tucker told reporters.
None of this would figure to matter all that much to the Bills, but that has much less to do with the fact Vera-Tucker is expected to be chosen as many as 15 spots before their pick at No. 30 than with Buffaloโs extensive use of free agency to solidify interior offensive line starting and backup spots.
Overall position ranking: 5 of 10.
Bills view: The main interior line questions were answered when they re-signed free agent guard Jon Feliciano, who also can do a solid job at center, after restructuring the contract of center Mitch Morse.
Theyโll see if Cody Ford can give them what they were expecting when they made him a second-round draft pick last year. So far, he has proved to be a disappointment, based on injuries and less-than-impressive performance when healthy.ย
Ford began last season at left guard and then moved to right guard in Week 3. He missed three games with injuries and then was sidelined for the remainder of the year after suffering a knee injury in practice in late November.
The Bills also improved their depth by adding free agents Jamil Douglas and Forrest Lamp, a 2017 second-round pick of the Chargers, to a reserve corps that also includes Ike Boettger and Ryan Bates.
Bills need ranking:ย 3 of 10.
The best: Alijah Vera-Tucker, USC. When the Pac-12 canceled its season due to the pandemic, he decided to opt out. Even when the conference reversed course and chose to play, Vera-Tucker was still planning to opt out.
He changed his mind, thanks in no small part to USCโs coaching staff convincing him that it would be much better for his draft status if he played.
โI really thought it was a very wise decision to play this season, these last six games,โ USC coach Clay Helton told reporters. โHe was right in that first round, high second-round category prior to the season. And I really felt (it would help) if he had one more year of starter tape and could really show his athletic ability that we knew he had because we knew him in high school and have been able to work with him.
โBut to be able to show teams heโs as athletic as can be at tackle and can be a premier interior player as well โย to have those two spots of tape, we just thought it would up his value.โ
Names to know: Creed Humphrey of Oklahoma and Landon Dickerson of Alabama.
Humphrey and Dickerson are seen as good fits at center, where the Bills could have a greater need next year if they move on from Morse. Either also could help at guard.ย
Hereโs something that undoubtedly will catch the attention of Bills coach Sean McDermott: Humphrey was a standout high school wrestler, which remains one of the most talked-about portions of McDermottโs sports rรฉsumรฉ. Humphrey, whose father was three-time Division II All-American wrestler Chad Humphrey, was a runner-up in the state championships in Oklahoma as a junior. He gave up wrestling to focus on football.
Dickerson began the 2019 season as a starter at right guard before moving to center. In 2020, he won the Rimington Trophy as the nationโs top center and was a first-team All-America selection.
Health scare: Trey Smith, from Tennessee, missed the final five games of the 2018 season after blood clots were discovered in his lungs. He bounced back and had a solid 2019 season at left guard, and a strong senior year in 2020 that helped reduce concerns NFL teams might have about his health.
The question is, have the issues dissipated enough to allow Smith to be a first-round pick, or will he slip to the second day?
Hardcore workouts: Quinn Meinerz, Wisconsin-Whitewater, has done plenty to elevate his status as a Division III standout. His highly impressive showing at Senior Bowl practices against defensive linemen from Power 5 schools โ all while dealing with a broken hand โ grabbed the attention of NFL scouts.
Meinerzโs workout routine also helped. After spring sessions at Wisconsin-Whitewater, Meinerz would travel to his uncleโs fishing camp in Canada and work out using whatever supplies were available. He pretended trees were defensive linemen, used wood piles as squatting weights and gas cans for running weights. Meinerz got even more creative to work on his shotgun snaps, affixing a pizza paddle to a garbage can and aiming for the skinny part of the paddle.
Top 10 chart
Player School Ht. Wt.
1. *Alijah Vera-Tucker USC 6-4 308
2. *Creed Humphrey Oklahoma 6-4 312
3. Landon Dickerson Alabama 6-6 326
4. *Wyatt Davis Ohio State 6-3 315
5. *Quinn Meinerz Wisconsin-Whitewater 6-3 320
6. *Josh Myers Ohio State 6-5 310
7. Trey Smith Tennessee 6-5 331
8. Ben Cleveland Georgia 6-3 354
9. *Aaron Banks Notre Dame 6-5 338
10. Alex Leatherwood Alabama 6-5 312
* Underclassman
