Pass blocking: Explosive initial punch. Sustains his blocks with good hand placement and upper-body strength. Locks on quickly and consistently controls his opponent in pass protection. Anchors well against the bull rush. Good balance. Plays with proper leverage and on the balls of his feet. May lack the lateral quickness to handle blocking on the outside. Struggles to recover laterally if forced to vacate his area.
Run blocking: Accurate hand placement and quick power steps to turn the defender efficiently and ride him out of the way to create holes for interior running. Good short-yardage run blocker. Very good use of leverage to create movement. Will get fundamentally sloppy when blocking straight ahead and lunge, allowing stronger defensive tackles to handle his initial surge and discard him too easily.
Pulling/trapping: Good initial and lateral quickness for the trap and reach block. Slows quickly, however, and struggles to adjust to moving targets in space.
Initial Quickness: Good initial quickness off the snap. Quick, explosive hands to gain an instant advantage on the defender in the passing and running games.
Downfield: Takes proper angles when blocking at the second level and can pancake the defender if he gets his hands on him. Only marginal agility when run blocking at the second level. Plays high and lumbers a bit when needing to move more than a few feet, allowing defenders an opportunity to elude him.
Intangibles: Cerebral blocker who adjusts quickly to surprise blitzes. Plays with a high motor. Versatile blocker with experience at all four exterior positions. Recognized as a team leader.
NFL Comparison: Justin Smiley, Dolphins
Da Bears Still Suck - Pregame Chat (Where's Caleb?)
