Offensive Guards
The were fourteen OGs selected in the 2021 draft, as follows:
Round 1 - 1
Round 2 - 2
Round 3 - 3
Round 4 - 1
Round 5 - 1
Round 6 - 3
Round 7 - 3
The 2021 draft was respectable to good at the OG spot, especially when you consider that two or three of the prospects listed as OGs could in fact end up at OT.
The 2022 draft could match the output from 2021, even upstage it when it's all said and done. Some of these guys are better suited to play inside, but have the versatility and/or experience of playing as a bookend.
1) Ikem Ekwonu | 6'4 | 320 | OG/OT | NC State
9/2 - South Florida - Ekwonu manned the LT spot in this game and performed very well. Purely grading him out as an OT, he had some technical flaws. He did get grabby at times and wasn't always clean in his pass sets. The athletic traits are undoubtedly there, so the aforementioned regards him as just needing more time. Whether looking at him as an OT or OG, he landed some devastating blocks in the run game. He showed a great understanding of angles and leveraging, routinely turned his man sideways away from the play path. He looked like a Round-1 prospect in this one.
9/11 - Mississippi State - Ekwonu manned the LT spot and was a bit up and down today, but his ups were much higher than his lows. He whiffed on a few blocks, which looked like nothing more than him not being a natural OT. That said, they ran behind him often. When he was able to get hands on a defender, the guy usually ended up off of his feet. Ekwonu played with devastating power and tenacity.
11/6 - Florida State - Ekwonu continues to wow. His functional play strength was insane, as he manhandled defenders in pass pro and in the run game. While I still project him at OG, he looked for adept at OT. Jermaine Johnson had zero success against him.
2) Kenyon Green | 6'4 | 325 | OG/OT | Texas A&M
9/4 - Kent State - Green manned the RT position and did well. While he clearly looks better suited to play inside based on his level of athleticism, he's made the transition well. He mirrored well in pass pro and used a powerful latch to keep defenders off his frame. In the run game, he fired out well and showed some power. He did whiff on a few blocks, also didn't play through the whistle on some others. That said, he generally executed his assignments well.
9/11 - Colorado - Green held down his RT spot well. He was a wall in pass pro and did a good job hemming his man up in the run game. He looked more fluid at RT this week.
9/25 - Arkansas - Green slid inside to play OG and did well for the most part. He missed a few times on his pulls and let some blocks slip, but he showed off plus power and tenacity, was often able to knock his man off his base.
11/13 - Ole Miss - Green played LG and played adequately on a number of his snaps, but he didn't dominate. A&M had little success moving the ball on a consistent basis.
3) Darian Kinnard | 6'5 | 345 | OG/OT | Kentucky
9/11 - Missouri - Kinnard (RT) had a solid game. He showed good enough feet to stay with his man in pass coverage, while showing his ability to leverage his size and strength against defenders in the run game. That said, he might be better suited to kick inside at the next level. He simply wasn't real fluid and looked limited athletically. Losing some weight may be in the cards for him, as he plodded through his blocks at times.
4) Lecitus Smith | 6'3 | 320 | OG | Virginia Tech
9/3 - North Carolina - Smith had a very good game. He was routinely the first O-lineman out of his stance, quick to fire into his man or pull as required. He used good angle technique in turning his man off the ball, also did so with power. He was a wall in pass pro, latched onto his man and/or mirrored well.
5) Zion Johnson | 6'3 | 310 | OG | Boston College
6) Ed Ingram | 6'3 | 315 | OG | LSU
9/4 - UCLA - LG Ingram had a good game. While UCLA stymied the run and created pressure throughout the night, Ingram routinely carried out his assignments in strong fashion. His game wasn't perfect, but more times than not he was a stout wall in pass pro, and moved bodies out of their gap in the run game.
7) Cade Mays | 6'5 | 328 | OG | Tennessee
9/11 - Pittsburgh - Mays held down the RT spot and did so in decent fashion. In doing so, he still looked like an interior playing out of his natural position. His strength stood out, was able to hem guys up in most regards.
8) Emil Ekiyor | 6'3 | 324 | OG | Alabama
9/4 - Miami - Ekiyor had a very good game. While he was routinely a wall in pass pro, I most impressed with how well he was able to pull, locate his target and eliminate the man from the play. Much of Alabama's success came from runs where Ekiyor performed this task. He's a big dude who moved pretty well out there. He also demonstrated plus power when he engaged.
9/18 - Florida - Ekiyor had a solid game. He was reliable in pass pro and showed off his ability to move guys in the run game. He was a bit inconsistent at times, but the talent was obvious.
11/20 - Arkansas - Ekiyor had an up and down game. While he landed some nice blocks in both the pass and run game, he underwhelmed on others.
9) Myron Cunningham | 6'5 | 325 | OG | Arkansas
9/11 - Texas - Cunningham had a solid game. He lined up at LT and was generally able to mirror and hang with his man. While I still think an interior spot would cater to him better, he showed better than expected athleticism on the outside.
11/20 - Alabama - Cunningham had a solid game at LT. He showed some good mirroring capabilities and some strength to match power at times.
10) Xavier Newman-Johnson | 6'2 | 315 | OG | Baylor
11/13 - Oklahoma - Johnson had himself a good game. While he did lose a battle or two to Winfrey, he won others and did a very good job opening up run lanes as a whole. He was also reliable in pass pro, showed some good toughness.
11) Marquis Hayes | 6'4 | 330 | OG | Oklahoma
9/4 - Tulane - Hayes had a solid game overall, but saw limited snaps due to leaving the game in the second half. He opened up solid holes in the run game, as was generally reliable in pass pro.
11/13 - Baylor - Hayes had a solid game. While OU couldn't move the ball, it wasn't on Hayes, a guy who held down his assignments pretty well for the most part.
12) Josh Sills | 6'5 | 338 | OG | OK State
9/11 - Tulsa - Sills had a solid game. While he didn't dominate as well as I've seen him do in the past, he generally hemmed his man up well in both pass pro and in the run game.
13) Logan Bruss | 6'5 | 319 | OG | Wisconsin
9/4 - Penn State - Bruss lined up at RT, and while he performed adequately there on a number of snaps, I simply can't see him staying there as he looks to take his game to the NFL. He played with requisite power and decent movement, but didn't look fluid in his kick slide and was suspect against formidable edge rush attempts.
14) Josh Rivas | 6'5 | 323 | OG | Kansas State
15) Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu | 6'5 | 325 | OG | Oregon
9/11 - Ohio State - DNP
11/6 - Washington - Held down the RT spot and had a good night. He was very reliable in pass pro and showed strength there as well as in the run game. He created some nice run opportunities for Dye, who had a banner night.
16) Chasen Hines | 6'3 | 323 | OG | LSU
9/4 - UCLA - RG Hines had a decent game, as he showed off some good power as a run and pass blocker. However, it looked like he carried a big bottom half, which can be great for anchoring, but stood out as a limitation relative to his mobility and movement skills. Also to note, he played on a rotational basis with #75 Anthony Bradford.
17) Wanya Morris | 6'5 | 313 | OG/OT | Oklahoma
18) Kevin Jarvis | 6'3 | 321 | OG | Michigan State
9/4 - Northwestern - Jarvis lined up at RG and had a very average game. His play didn't stand out in the run game nor in pass protection. Compared to what I've seen of him in the past, his play has regressed.
11/6 - Purdue - Jarvis had a very respectable game, did a good job hemming his man up for run plays to develop.
19) Cain Madden | 6'3 | 313 | OG | Notre Dame
9/4 Florida State - Madden looked very vanilla in his debut with the Irish. He was generally reliable in pass pro, but created little push in the run game.
20) Josh Seltzner | 6'4 | 310 | OG | Wisconsin
9/4 - Penn State - Seltzner lined up at LG and had an up and down game.
21) Jack Snyder | 6'4 | 310 | OG | San Jose State
8/28 - Southern Utah - LT Snyder performed like a solid journeyman in this one. He grinded out blocks and was generally adequate. He lacked the requisite fluidity and length to fully operate at LT, however. He looks like an inside-only prospect who isn't great, but gets the job done more times than not.
22) Ben Petrula | 6'5 | 310 | OG | Boston College
23) Conner Olson | 6'4 | 305 | OG | Minnesota
9/2 - Ohio State - Sadly, Olsen's most significant play was a let hit that put his team in a 2 and 22 situation. This aside, he was serviceable to solid throughout the game, hemming up his assignment long enough for the team to get plus yardage running the ball.
24) Stewart Reese | 6'5 | 345 | OG/OC | Florida
25) Paul Grattan | 6'4 | 300 | OG | UCLA
8/28 - Hawaii - Grattan landed some decent blocks, underwhelmed on some others. In was generally solid in pass pro, but looked limited athletically. In the run game, he showed the ability to get an angle and create some push. Given the level of talent he faced, I did expect more.
9/4 - LSU - LG Grattan had a solid night. He missed on a few blocks and was merely average on others, he also looked the part on others. He played with toughness and did hem his defender up for run plays to develop.