NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks put together his latest top five 2022 NFL draft prospects by position. As expected, Iowa center [autotag]Tyler Linderbaum[/autotag] is highly regarded.
In fact, Brooks has Linderbaum as his second highest-rated interior blocker. According to Brooks, Texas A&M offensive lineman Kenyon Green is the top interior blocker in this class. After Linderbaum, Brooks ranked Boston College guard Zion Johnson No. 3, Georgia offensive lineman Jamaree Salyer No. 4 and Nebraska center Cam Jurgens No. 5.
Here’s what Brooks wrote about these interior blockers in this 2022 NFL draft class.
The class of interior blockers includes technicians with enough power and pop to play bully ball at the line of scrimmage. Green is an athletic phone-booth controller with the strength, power and explosiveness to blow defenders off the ball in the running game. The former Texas A&M standout excels in a pin-and-pull scheme, but he displays enough athleticism to thrive in zone-based or man-blocking systems, as well. Linderbaum is an athletic pivot with polished skills and a nasty finishing move. The Iowa product is a rare find as a scrappy player with a versatile game. – Brooks, NFL.com.
Linderbaum actually fell one spot in Brooks’ rankings of interior blockers. In Brooks’ first top five 2022 NFL draft prospects by position on Feb. 16, Linderbaum was the No. 1 interior blocker according to Brooks. Now, he’s swapped Green for Linderbaum at the top.
Either way, it’s clear that Linderbaum is considered one of the elite interior offensive line talents in this draft class. Linderbaum started all 35 games at center for Iowa over the past three seasons after making the transition from the defensive line to the offensive side of the football.
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