Blake Freeland 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scout report for the BYU OT

Blake Freeland, BYU: 6’8″, 305 pounds.

Blake Freeland was a three-star athlete recruit who started a couple of years at quarterback in high school and then kind of did everything but play on the O-line as a senior.

Freeland started 15 games across his first two seasons at right tackle, and in 2021, he transitioned to the left side (replacing Brady Christensen), excelling as a 13-game starter. He did the same this past season and was awarded first-team All-Independent in consecutive seasons.

Blake Freeland scout report: Strengths

Blake Freeland - Arkansas v Brigham Young

+ Blake Freeland looks like a plus-sized tight-end and moves much more fluidly than most of these giants.

+ Comes off the ball with good urgency in the run game and is consistent with fitting his hits at the correct aiming points.

+ Attacks the near-shoulder of defensive ends and is strong with the inside hand to create movement at the point of attack on lateral run schemes.

+ Displays tremendous agility to scoop-block three-techniques on the backside of wide zone, while also being able to significantly wash them down on inside zone runs to create cutback lanes for the ball-carrier.

+ On front-side combos, he digs that shoulder into the chest of the defender and steps into his fellow blocker to create that vertical momentum.

+ Was regularly utilized on wrap-around pulls for power concepts.

+ If you get him out in the screen game, that athleticism in space can really shine.

+ He’s also smart with getting out in front of fly sweeps, etc. not allowing defenders to slice inside of him before getting vertical and targeting the safety or pursuit defender.

+ Was uber-consistent this past season looking at PFF’s grading, with just two games below 70 and none worse than 66.4.

+ Light on his feet and advanced in his technique as a pass-protector, His patience at sitting back and forcing the rusher across from him to show his plan really stands out.

+ Consistently able to land one hand inside and actively looks to re-fit if those get knocked away.

+ You see him bait the hands of rushers with fake jabs and throw his hands right on time as guys present their frame. Plus he’s constantly looking to re-fit his grip as defenders try to knock it away.

+ Widens his base to counter power and removes steam from rushers.

+ Glides laterally with ease to slide in front of edge rushers lined up outside the tight-end, who get released in the pattern.

+ Does well to really sell play-action, particularly on the front-side of zone fakes, where he forces edge defenders to bring their base around to set the point and then he gets square to them.

+ Routinely reaches out with his long arm to help out the guard next to him and feels potential rushers potentially slanting that way whilst deciphering who may come off the edge if the picture is a bit muddy.

+ If his man drops out, Freeland’s eyes instantly go inside to pick up any potential loopers or help out on guys working the B-gap.

+ Earned PFF pass-blocking grades of 91.9 and 90.7 respectively these past two seasons, allowing only one sack and 11 other pressured across 888 combined pass-blocking snaps.

+ Blake Freeland broke the combine record for offensive linemen with a 37-inch vertical and hit the ten-foot mark in the broad (five inches better anybody from this year’s OL group), plus his 1.68 ten-yard split was also tops for the group.

Blake Freeland scout report: Weaknesses

– A little bit in the pants overall, without great muscle distribution throughout his frame.

– His height does present some challenges in terms of natural pad-level and some waist-bending/shoulder-rolling tendencies.

– Won’t move people against their will on gap schemes, due to not being able to roll his hips and transfer force from the ground up particularly well.

– Due to being naturally tall in his pass-sets and not really attacking with those hands, you see guys be able to long-arm him and drive him backwards or take him off balance.

– Lacks a certain fluidity to turn and cut off angles for rushers who can work with space and challenge him with their suddenness or just get a great jump off the ball.

Blake Freeland scout report: Grade

The first thing I would do once I had Blake Freeland in my building is sit him down with my athletic training and nutrition stuff to get his body NFL ready and work on the mobility in his lower body joints.

His height will always create challenges in terms of pad-level and fully incorporating what he has from the hips down. However, his combination of athleticism and length is rare to find and he’s already performed extremely well against college competition.

I don’t see Blake Freeland as great for a gap-scheme heavy rushing attack, but he’s highly capable of every aspect of being a zone-blocker and you can take advantage of his skills on the move on crack toss, power and screen plays. Considering some of the rough moments he went through during Senior Bowl week, he would probably benefit from being a swingle tackle early on, but his upside is about as high anybody outside the top-six or so.

Grade: Early second round

You might like other 2023 NFL Draft Scouting Reports: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR), Ohio; Zay Flowers (WR), Boston; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Jalin Hyatt (WR), Tennessee; Jordan Addison (WR), USC; Quentin Johnston (WR), TCU; Zach Charbonnet (RB), UCLA; Bijan Robinson (RB), Texas; Tyler Steen (OT), Alabama.

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