Tag: Vederian Lowe

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.

2022 NFL draft: The top 11 offensive tackles

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

If you want to know the hit rate for the top offensive tackles in any draft class, consider this. Since 2010, there have been 44 players taken in the first round who were designated as offensive tackles in their draft classes. Just eight have at least one First-Team All-Pro selection. Only 14 have been selected to at least one Pro Bowl. Three (Isaiah Wilson, Tennessee Titans, 2020/Andre Dillard, Philadelphia Eagles, 2019/Derek Sherrod, Green Bay Packers, 2011) have not been primary starters in the NFL.

For every Trent Williams, Tyron Smith, and Ronnie Stanley — the guys who immediately and consistently define their offenses with their excellence — there’s a Jake Matthews, Nate Solder, or Luke Joeckel (players who have great moments, but tread water more than anything else), and there’s certainly at least one Ereck Flowers, Ja’Wuan James, or Andrew Thomas (the players who wind up making you wonder what everybody in the room was thinking).

This is not to specifically malign the players who do not succeed at the NFL level, despite having what some shot-caller in some front office determined to be first-round talent. It’s more to say that being a great left or right tackle in the pros is really, really hard to do. Different offensive systems require different things from their tackles, but for the most part, you’d better have aggressive hands, excellent, light feet, the mentality to dominate, the agility to take on the NFL’s best speed-rushers, and the intelligence and reaction ability to deal with blitzes and stunts.

Those are the basics. From there, the hope is that you’ll continue to excel despite any physical limitations. Maybe your wingspan isn’t what the NFL wants it to be. Maybe your upper-body strength isn’t exactly an advertisement for your college weightroom. Perhaps your college coaches didn’t teach you this or that technique that would help you in the NFL, and you have to hope that your NFL coaches will see these things and make them better.

Sometimes, you’re able to transcend these things. More often, you’re not.

This year’s offensive tackles appear to be part of a class that is top-heavy and deep. But there’s no guarantee that any of them will become true dominators at the NFL level, no matter how much they may have owned the defenders they faced in college.

Here are the top 11 offensive tackles in the 2022 NFL draft, the attributes that best indicate their transitions to the NFL, and the things that might get in the way.

(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). 

Chiefs had formal interview with Illinois OT Vederian Lowe at 2022 NFL Scouting Combine

We have our first reported formal interview at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine for the #Chiefs with the team taking an interest in #Illini OT Vederian Lowe.

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to meet with prospects at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine and now we have our first reported formal interview.

According to The Draft Network’s Justin Melo, the Chiefs had a formal interview with Illinois OT Vederian Lowe at the combine on Thursday. Informal interviews usually take place with a single member of a team’s staff and last around 10-15 minutes. Formal interviews typically take place with several members of the staff and are more intensive. In the case of the Chiefs, they can take over 30 minutes to complete and it’s a very detail-oriented process. They’ll test things like detail-retention and really try to figure out how a player will fit into their system.

In the past for Kansas City, formal interviews tend to indicate interest and could ultimately lead to a top-30 visit for a prospect.

Listed at 6-6 and 310 pounds, Lowe is an experienced and athletic offensive tackle prospect. He holds a Fighting Illini record with 52 career starts over five seasons in Champaign-Urbana. Lowe has played the majority of his time at left tackle with Illinois, but he did play on both sides of the line as a freshman. He’s also a former teammate of current Chiefs backup guard Nick Allegretti.

The Chiefs, of course, have a need on the right side of the offensive line at the right tackle position. Not only do they need depth, but with Lucas Niang injured and Andrew Wylie set to become a free agent, the team also needs starting help on that side of the line.

During on-field workouts on Friday, expect Lowe to put up some impressive numbers in the on-field drills. His athleticism pops off the page in his Illinois tape, especially when he’s in the open field.

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