Joe Tippmann 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scout report for the Wisconsin IOL

Joe Tippmann, Wisconsin

6’6”, 315 pounds; JR

A four-star recruit in 2019, Tippmann redshirted his first year in Madison and then only appeared in two games the following season. In the past two years, he’s started all but one of the 23 games he suited up for. He was named an honorable mention All-Big Ten in both of them, paving the way for a rushing attack that averaged 211 and 180 yards respectively per contest.

+ Tall, athletic center, with plus experience in a multiple run scheme

+ Quick out of his stance, with the mobility to pull and climb to the second level effectively

+ Rapidly covers group laterally to down-block on guys in the A-gap and create that space purely by alignment, as well as on three-techniques, to allow his guards to pull

+ With his long arms, he’s able to fit the opposite hand under the rib-cage of bigger D-tackles and turn their bodies, in order to move them out of the lane and take advantage of their charge upfield, even if he may not be able to drive them off their landmarks with brute force

+ Shows good dexterity and balance to create lateral movement on zone run schemes and pulls his inside foot through when needed, and he is frequently able to bring his hips around to pin guys away from the action

+ Keeps his shoulders square on combos and times up exceptionally well when he peels off those typically, depending on the linebacker’s movement

+ Wisconsin took advantage of Tippman’s mobility on some long pulls, where he was consistently able to attach to targets in space

+ They would run some counter, where the center himself did like a counter/pivot step and be like an H-back sifting across the formation, to get out on the run

+ Effective folds/wraps around guards or tackles on skip-pulls, along with taking on trap and kickout assignments

+ Counterbalances his height with natural bend at his knees and keeps his elbows in tight to handle powerful interior rushers

+ Makes sliding in front of interior rushers lined up directly in the gap and mirroring their movement look pretty effortless

+ Very active with keeping his feet moving and not being caught off balance

+ Tippman’s length allows him to literally have a hand on each of the guards next to him at times, with the Badgers using fairly tight splits up front

+ In a more practical sense, he can reach out for mugged-up backers in one A-gap and feel if he’s actually coming, whilst gaining depth and ultimately taking over a rusher on the other side

+ Shows flashes of independent hand-usage to keep rushers at bay

+ When unoccupied, he displays active eyes, to attach to nearby rushers or pick up blitzing linebackers angling his way

+ On some delayed interior twists and second-level rushers looping across, you see an impressive ability to open his hips and guide those guys off track

+ Was charged with just one sack and nine total pressures across 615 pass-blocking snaps in the past two years combined

– While he does sink his hips well, Tippmann’s height can create some leverage issues and limit the movement he can provide as a drive-blocker

– Falls off too many blocks against A-gap defenders, where he needs to re-fit his hands and drop his base if he gets out-leveraged initially

– In protection, you see him dip his head and more crafty rushers pull him off later into reps, and because he isn’t necessarily pro-active with his punch, some guys at the next level will be able to attack his chest to create anchoring issues for him

– Can be a little late to pick up wide stunts, as he has his hips opened towards a rusher one of his guard is tangled up with

Tippman is one of the more fun prospects to watch regardless of position – at least for me. His movement skills in the run game are rare for a center and whoever drafts him will have the opportunity to diversify their scheme because of what he can provide. His height brings positive and negative effects, where it provides some room for error/extended reach, but his higher center of gravity limits his ability to dig defenders out of their gap and anchor against interior rushers. He will need to work on protecting his chest better in order to counter-balance those issues you see at times in pass-pro, but the athleticism and crafty play for just a true junior makes him one of my favorite guys to target early on day two – assuming he’s available at that point. In a system that throws perimeter screens more regularly, this guy’s speed to cover ground and how well he snatches up bodies on the fly could really shine.

Grade: Early second round

Feel free to head over to halilsrealfootballtalk.com for all my draft breakdowns and check out my YouTube channel for even more NFL content!