Talking Draft Prospects

Direckshun · 03-04-2015, 07:43 PM

OG Laken Tomlinson, Duke -- It's still hard to say what John Dorsey is looking for in guards. He's taken an athletic guard with tackle flexibility (LDT) and a plodding fatass with no tackle flexibility (Fulton). The Chiefs will likely be in a market for a guard in the 2015 NFL Draft, but what prototype they're even looking for is anybody's guess. Andy Reid has a history of loving power blockers, but the Chiefs play a ton of zone blocking as well. Who the hell knows what's going on. Tomlinson, however, is a complete known quantity; he can stand to get stronger, but he is now who he'll be in the NFL. At 6'3", 323, with almost 34" arms, he's a great power blocker with surprising quickness. Tomlinson's bread and butter is runblocking -- he is an epic runblocker with the ability to neutralize nose tackles and erase undertackles, and can get to the 2nd level and destroy linebackers into oblivion. His form is perfect, as he sports a heavy base with thick arms that finish a defender any time they latch on. Tomlinson doesn't have tackle flexibility, and he's not particularly athletic (though, again, he is very quick), the latter of which makes him a tough fit for a Chiefs team that runs a lot of screens. But for a power-run team, I'd consider him early and often in the 2nd round, as he has the capability to be a great tone-setter in the NFL. I do worry a bit about how he'd fare against quick 3-techs, but if you're in a wide-open offense that asks its guards to block passrushing tackles in space, you're probably not looking at Tomlinson to begin with.

03-04-2015, 07:43 PM	#22
Direckshun __ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Springpatch Casino cash: $2033447	OG Laken Tomlinson, Duke -- It's still hard to say what John Dorsey is looking for in guards. He's taken an athletic guard with tackle flexibility (LDT) and a plodding fatass with no tackle flexibility (Fulton). The Chiefs will likely be in a market for a guard in the 2015 NFL Draft, but what prototype they're even looking for is anybody's guess. Andy Reid has a history of loving power blockers, but the Chiefs play a ton of zone blocking as well. Who the hell knows what's going on. Tomlinson, however, is a complete known quantity; he can stand to get stronger, but he is now who he'll be in the NFL. At 6'3", 323, with almost 34" arms, he's a great power blocker with surprising quickness. Tomlinson's bread and butter is runblocking -- he is an epic runblocker with the ability to neutralize nose tackles and erase undertackles, and can get to the 2nd level and destroy linebackers into oblivion. His form is perfect, as he sports a heavy base with thick arms that finish a defender any time they latch on. Tomlinson doesn't have tackle flexibility, and he's not particularly athletic (though, again, he is very quick), the latter of which makes him a tough fit for a Chiefs team that runs a lot of screens. But for a power-run team, I'd consider him early and often in the 2nd round, as he has the capability to be a great tone-setter in the NFL. I do worry a bit about how he'd fare against quick 3-techs, but if you're in a wide-open offense that asks its guards to block passrushing tackles in space, you're probably not looking at Tomlinson to begin with.
Posts: 59,693