Tag: luke fortner

Three prospects for Dolphins fans to keep their eye on in the third round

Here are some guys that Dolphins fans should keep an eye out for when their pick comes around.

The day has finally arrived, as, what’s the equivalent of Christmas morning to many football fans, the NFL draft kicks off Thursday night from Las Vegas, Nevada.

At the moment, prior to potential trades, all but eight teams are preparing for their first-round selection. However, the Miami Dolphins are one of three teams to not have a pick in the first two rounds. That’s because Dolphins general manager Chris Grier made a savvy trade to acquire wide receiver Tyreek Hill from the Kansas City Chiefs last month.

Miami added the six-time Pro Bowler and sent both pick No. 29 and No. 50 to Kansas City. Miami also threw in a 2022 fourth-round pick as well as 2023 fourth-round and sixth-round picks to land Hill.

The last time Miami was without their two opening-round picks, was following the blockbuster Ricky Williams deal in 2002. So, while there’s a likely wait until the third round this year, Dolphins fans are wondering about the play from Grier. The choices are either to stay put at pick No. 102 or move around the board, something Grier has done in some form early in the process in the last three drafts.

Looking at inside linebackers, interior offensive linemen and running backs as main areas of need, Grier has selected very productive players in his Miami draft history since 2016. Sure, some may not be Dolphins currently, but, historically, Grier has had more hits than misses in terms of finding NFL-ready talent.

Dolphins fans have shown patience in many ways and the first 101 picks will be no different. The advice for today is simply a re-iteration of what Grier suggested to reporters last week – “watch Tyreek Hill highlights.”

It’s the first draft in which Miami doesn’t pick in the top-100, so in a group of prospects where there’s decent depth rather than top-end star power, there are gems waiting to be called by Grier and the Dolphins. These are some names in positions of need to keep an eye on as the draft moves towards Miami’s first pick.

Center of Attention? Luke Fortner might provide Cowboys true competition on OL

The Kentucky center has some position flex but does he have the physical flex to make it in the pros? Tyler Browning (@DiabeticTyler) takes a look at the film.

The Dallas Cowboys have had questions at the center position since the retirement of Travis Fredrick. They have tried Joe Looney, Tyler Biadasz, and even tried now Miami Dolphin Connor Williams. We have previously talked about the dream option at center in Iowa’s Tyler Linderbaum, but what happens if he is off the board? Who do the Cowboys turn to then? Do they role with Tyler Biadasz for another year? Do they look to address the hole later in the draft?

Kentucky center Luke Fortner is an experienced center, playing in 55 games in his career with 26 consecutive starts. He was a team captain for the Wildcats and earned 2nd-team All-SEC (Pro Football Focus, Phil Steele) in his final year. He also offers some positional flexibility as he played some left guard. Fortner is very intelligent as has graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and he has completed his Masters degree requirements in aerospace engineering and will graduate with that degree in May. He also started a second Masters program in business administration and is on track to graduate with that in May as well.

Will his intelligence outweigh his relative lack of athletic traits?

The most underrated prospects in the 2022 NFL draft class

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar reveals his most underrated prospects in the 2022 NFL draft class.

When we media yahoos talk about “sleepers” in any draft class, it’s true what NFL teams will tell you — it’s generally a case of the media simply catching up to what those teams have known about those prospects for months. Perception versus reality means that what we’re really talking about are prospects we’re just getting around to after the top-tier players at every position.

So, maybe it’s better to say for the purposes of this exercise that the prospects you see here are the ones whose tape stands out beyond the recognition they’ve gotten. With days to hours left until the 2022 draft, these players are the ones you may not have heard of, or have experienced in passing but haven’t watched, or have watched and wondered where they might be drafted.

Any of these guys going in the first round would be a longshot, but they each have remarkable attributes that show their professional potential, and could seal their NFL futures.

7-Round mock draft 7.0: Vikings double dip in round one

In a trade-up scenario, who should the Vikings be looking to get in the first-round?

Over the course of this series, I have explored a myriad of situations. Some of them are likely and make complete sense, while others are relatively outlandish.

The only two things we know about the Vikings front office going into the draft are:

  1. The Wilfs don’t want a rebuild and want to remain competitive
  2. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah knows how to maximize the markets

In this mock, we explore trading back into the first round. While unlikely, if a top player at a position of need is available, don’t count that potential out.

2022 NFL draft: The top 11 interior offensive linemen

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar breaks down the 11 best interior offensive linemen in the 2022 NFL draft class.

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Since 2000, there have been 35 interior offensive linemen selected in the first round of any draft. And generally speaking, if you’re going to select a guard or a center in the first round, you’d better be pretty sure — the player had better be not only ding-proof, but he’d also better have some serious upside. Not only must he have near-total command at the position; he’d also better be able to clearly demonstrate the ability to take the unfinished parts of his game and take them to an NFL-acceptable level.

Of the 35 first-rounders among guards and centers since 2000, there’s one Hall of Famer (Steve Hutchinson, selected by the Seattle Seahawks with the 17th overall pick in 2000), a few now-retired players who could see themselves enshrined over time (Logan Mankins, Maurkice Pouncey, Nick Mangold), and current players who are now on a Canton track (Quenton Nelson, Zack Martin, Alex Mack).

The first-round guards and centers who don’t work out are generally the ones whose athletic traits are overcooked by evaluators at the expense of the nuances of the positions. At any position, you don’t want to talk yourself into the idea that you can take a “raw clay” player and turn him into something he never was in college. It’s a dangerous idea, especially when every position is harder to master at the NFL level.

In the 2022 class of interior offensive linemen, there are two or three I could see going in the first round, because they have the attributes you want at the position, and they’ve developed those attributes to the point where you can see it on tape over and over. Then, you can look at the things that don’t quite work yet and make your own calculations as to whether he fits what your head coach, offensive coordinator, and position coaches want to do schematically. The players further down the list may have more glaring weaknesses, or they’re less scheme-transcendent, but they’re still good enough to make their offensive lines better.

Depth at these positions is key, because guard and center aren’t positions where you’re going to overdraft guys a lot. So, you can get a Wyatt Teller or a Corey Linsley in the fifth round, a Shaq Mason in the fourth round, and you can get a David Andrews as a priority free agent.

The Miami Dolphins of the early 1970s had among the greatest offensive lines in pro football history, and only one player on those lines (right tackle Norm Evans) was drafted — by the Houston Oilers in the 14th round of the 1965 American Football League draft. But two guys from those lines (center Jim Langer and right guard Larry Little) are now in the Hall of Fame.

These are the positions where the names at the bottom of the list might wind up outperforming the names up top, so it’s crucial to scout it all the way down.

Here are our top 11 interior offensive linemen in the 2022 NFL draft.

(All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Sports Info Solutions unless otherwise indicated. All testing data comes from the 2022 scouting combine, with percentile per position, courtesy of MockDraftable.com). 

2022 NFL draft: The top 11 offensive tackles

2022 NFL draft: The top 11 tight ends

2022 NFL draft: The top 16 receivers

2022 NFL draft: The top 11 running backs

2022 NFL draft: The top 11 quarterbacks

Rams 2022 Draft Prospect Profile: Luke Fortner (G/C, Kentucky)

The Rams are likely going to select an IOL in the 2022 NFL draft and Luke Fortner out of Kentucky could be a name to keep an eye on.

The interior of the offensive line of the Los Angeles Rams is going to look somewhat different next season. Despite the Rams retaining Brian Allen and Coleman Shelton in free agency, Austin Corbett inked a deal with the Carolina Panthers.

While Shelton could begin the season as a starter — and David Edwards is capable of playing either guard spot — taking an interior offensive lineman in the 2022 NFL draft seems to be a likely scenario for the Rams. Depth on the offensive line is vital in the NFL and Los Angeles realizes that they have to prioritize keeping Matthew Stafford upright.

In the days leading up to the draft, I’ve begun to take a look at prospects that the Rams could consider, beginning with Cole Strange and Ed Ingram (you can check those out below).

Next up on my list of interior offensive line prospects that could interest the Rams is Luke Fortner out of Kentucky.

Rams 2022 NFL mock draft: Post-combine edition

With the NFL combine wrapped up, here’s an updated projection of what the Rams might do in the 2022 draft

The 2022 NFL Scouting Combine has come to a close in Indianapolis and there were plenty of standout performances. Some prospects were able to improve their draft stock ahead of next month’s draft, while others may have put a dent in their outlook with poor testing numbers.

For the Los Angeles Rams, they have made it a common trend for Sean McVay and Les Snead to stay home instead of attending the combine. Even though the Rams don’t send their head coach and general manager to watch the incoming prospects, they still have their eyes on guys they’ll want to add in the 2022 NFL draft.

Before we get into my updated mock draft for after the combine, you can check out my pre-combine mock draft here so you can see the changes that took place between then and now. And as a reminder, I used The Draft Network’s mock draft machine to compile my mock draft.