Top 10 interior offensive linemen in the 2019 NFL Draft

Just missed the cut

Beau Benzschawel

Beau Benzschawel, Wisconsin

Benzschawel followed his brother, father and uncle to Madison as a Wisconsin All-State tight-end and defensive end.

The multi-sport athlete redshirted his freshman year to bulk up and missed the first five games of the 2015 season before splitting time at right guard and tackle.

Since then he was a Stalwart at right guard for the Badgers, starting 49 consecutive games and earning All-Big Ten honors for three straight years, as well as first-team AP All-American recognition as a senior.

This young man has excellent thickness throughout his frame. Once Benzschawel initates contact in the run-game, that defender usually doesn’t get away and he keeps his legs churning.

He maintains good leverage and throws some guys to the ground when the opportunity is there. When he does get to the second level, Benzschawel usually hits his landmarks and does a good job controlling targets in space due to his grip strength.

That is also how he can get under the pads of defensive linemen and torque their bodies, opening up running lanes even if he doesn’t really drive guys. Benzschawel works very well off combo-blocks, where he gets a good bump on that down-lineman and then brings the necessary movement as that secondary blocker on an angle.

He has experience reaching 1-techniques, where he does a good job hooking that inside arm of the defender and moving his body in the way.

He also has experience getting in front of people as a puller and while he has executed a multitude pro-gap scheme, the Badgers also ran a bunch zone plays, where Benzschawel pins the armpit of the defensive linemen on the combo-block while working to the second level.

Benzschawel shows impressive anchor strength due to his wide base and good lateral quickness to mirror rushers.

As a former tackle, he knows how to mix up his sets with different punches. If he doesn’t have a direct task in protection, the Badgers guard is looking for a target to hit and has that little bit of nasty to him that you want to see. When blitzers come his way he can swallow blows and redirect the charging defenders through good sink of the hips.

He plays with his eyes up and stays alert for any twists by the defensive line. Benzschawel surrendered just six total pressure throughout the entire 2018 season according to Pro Football Focus and earned their highest overall grade among all interior offensive linemen.

With that being said, the tall guard shows some sluggish movement with that block-like build. Due to his aggressive forward lean, Benzschawel can lose balance at times and get off his feet, but he needs it because he lacks that explosive pop in the run game.

More technically sound defensive linemen will take advantage of his pass sets and beat him clean off the snap occasionally, which we already saw a little of in college.

The big man lacks some mobility to be as effective as a puller against NFL speed and a large portion of his pulling responsibilities went to center Tyler Biadasz last season because he was just better on the move.

At times I would like him to continue to work around his blocks instead of allowing his man to keep vision on the backfield and then disengage. He also slips off some blocks against linebackers even if that initial hit lands.

At the Senior Bowl Benzschawel had his struggles in one-on-ones with the D-line because of his height allowing opponents to get underneath him and take him off balance early on.

Like all Wiscnsin offensive lineman, Benzschawel is well-coached and very consistent with his footwork in the run game. NFL teams will look at his agility in tight spaces as a pass-protector, even though questions about his upper body strength will be there.

I was a little discouraged by what I saw from him against top competition at times, but he was so consistent during his time at Wisconsin and should have be a starter in today’s pass-happy league.

Ross Pierschbacher, Alabama

A former four-star recruit from Iowa, Pierschbacher started 46 games for the Crimson Tide and only a high ankle sprain could keep him out of three contests in 2017. After a redshirt year he immediately stepped into the left guard spot, earning Freshman All-SEC honors.

He went on to start all games he was available for the next two years splitting time between both guard spots. In his senior year however he moved to center and excelled in that role as well, earning second-team All-American accolades on his way to a fourth straight National Championship game appearance,.

Pierschbacher has a super wide chest and massive thighs. He will run his feet through the defender until the whistle blows and keeps his hands stuck to the target. Pierschbacher twists and turns big men in the run game, making it hard for them to gain vision on what is going on in the backfield and he doesn’t let go off blocks.

He uses a good drop-step to reach defensive linemen and continues to get his hips around to shield defenders from the ball-carrier as the play develops. He quickly gets into his pulls and was asked to skip-pull, kick out end-men and seal linebackers.

As a pass-protector he steps and shoots quickly to gain control of the guy in front of him and has superglue-type grip on opposing rushers. Pierschbacher is hard to get around due to his broad frame, but he also keeps good posture and has the length to lock out rushers, as well as keeping a very wide base to stay balanced.

He is a technically sound pass protector who jumps on the guy in front of him and usually gains control of the him from the get-go. He allowed only four total pressures on 422 pass-blocking snaps last season.

The high IQ guy points out blitzers, keeps active eyes and rarely misses looping defenders on twists. However, Pierschbacher looks a little heavy-legged when trying to get on the move and is vulnerable to push-pull moves when he shifts his weight too far forward.

At the Senior Bowl he got run over on the first rep of one-on-ones by Texas A&M’s Daylon Mack and rather skipped backwards on the second one as well.

He looked pretty solid after that but he is a natural rock to negate powerful guys on the interior. I also think he needs to do a better job re-positioning his hands when his man decides to spin the other way.

Pierschbacher Won’t show up on any highlight tapes with monster blocks in space, but he rarely gets out of position and simply gets the job done. He was a great communicator for that Alabama O-line and got everybody into position.

Pierschbacher has the intelligence and versatility to play probably anywhere on a team’s front, although guard is his natural fit in my opinion. There are some athletic limitations, but nothing to keep him out of the pros.

Dru Samia, Oklahoma

This kid was an excellent four-year contributor on the Sooners offensive line. Samia started nine games at right tackle as a freshman and in the season-opener the following year before moving inside and earning honorable mention All-Big XII by league coaches.

He was a second-team all-conference performer these last two seasons and one of three players to receive honors for the conference’s top offensive lineman of the year. The 47-game starter is a technically sound run-blocker.

He has a good initial stab to gain leverage on the defender in front of him and he takes his initial steps the same way even if there is no obvious responsibility, before climbing to the second level.

Samia is very active on zone schemes, where he is looking to tag onto nose tackles from the side and lets the linebacker come up before putting hands on him. I like the way he turns bodies at the line and continues to drive them off the spot or even put hands on a linebacker trying to scrape over the tape.

At 6’5”, around 300 pounds Samia is an outstanding athlete, which shows in his mobility to pull out in front. He was used to kick out the play-side defensive end and he does a nice job turning that guy’s pads towards the opposite end-zone after initiating contact, to open up big holes.

Overall I really like the nastiness Samia and all those guys on the Oklahoma O-line play within pass protection he is looking to deliver the blow and then settles down. Samia keeps active feet when he doesn’t have a direct assignment and is looking to help out one of his teammates. He was pulled around quite a bit to sell play-action. He did not give up a single sack in 2016 or 2018.

During the Senior Bowl game he gave Boston College’s Zach Allen a little shove after he committed a roughing the passer penalty on the quarterback and I like that attitude to protect his guy. Samia has a little wind-of of his arms at times, which makes it easier for defenders to knock them away and make this whiff.

He struggles with long, athletic D-lineman, who can take advantage of his aggressive pass sets by grabbing the back of his pads and arm-overing him. He is also a little late at sliding back over against twists. If there is one position where I would take a gritty, technically sound player over one that is more athletic and talented one it is offensive guard.

That is why I would definitely select teammate Ben Powers over Samia, who many love because of the type of athlete he is. I think he could work out in the league, but he might have to move to center or at least add a couple of pounds through the weight room.

Alex Bars, Notre Dame

With Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey stealing the limelight and both being top ten prospects last April, nobody really looked at the third star along that line a couple of years.

Alex Bars comes from a football background with his dad being a former Irish linebacker and his two brothers playing on either side of the line for separate Big Ten schools.

After a redshirt year Bars saw some game action as a freshman but had it cut short by ankle surgery. He took over at right tackle once McGlinchey was asked to switch to the left side although he went back to his natural position at right guard in 2018.

After logging 30 consecutive start, Bars was lost with a torn ACL and MCL versus Stanford last year. Bars has a fridge-like build with broad shoulders and a wide torso. He typically plays with excellent leverage and leg-drive, Bars uproots defense off their spot and torques bodies at the line of scrimmage to open up paths for his running back.

He continuously bringing his hips around, while having the mobility to pull out in front and locking onto targets at the second level or kick out end-men, where he brings some thump at initial contact.

He is also an excellent power-blocker, coming around in a tight line and walling of linebackers in space, plus when there is no immediate threat he will find somebody to push around. Bars frees himself up to climb on combo-blocks by staying tight to his teammate’s hip and getting excellent angular momentum on that primary defender to set up his buddy.

He does a nice job shielding guys away from the action and doesn’t try to do anything unnecessary, while hooking D-linemen in the zone run game to take away penetration. As a pass-protector Bars delivers an upward thrust to take away the initial momentum of big defensive tackles across from him and sticky hands to hold onto those guys.

He has the lateral quickness to square up blitzers and pushes guys into the pile when they get a step on him to the inside. The 2018 team captain is alert for twists and invites his man with a good punch. He utilizes appropriate cut-blocks on quick passes and in space to sweep guys off their feet in space.

However, Bars plays with his head too far in front and fails to latch onto targets if they quickly knocks his hands off. He isn’t a natural knee-bender and can get exposed for that by savvy defenders.

He gets stood up by some of the more powerful D-linemen and he has some troubles staying late on plays when his opponent pulls him by his pads and he falls forward, while also being caught in the wind-up phase at times and can be eluded by well-school defenders.

Although his knee will have to check out fine and the lower body flexibility definitely needs work, I think Bars could be a nice day-three pickup.

He has a good understanding for blocking angles and linebacker’s movements, quality experience at guard and tackle and he was part of that 2017 offensive line that earned the Joe Moore trophy for the best group in college football.

The next guys up:

Ryan Bates (Penn State), Hjalte Froholdt (Arkansas), Terrone Prescod (N.C. State), Bunchy Stallings (Kentucky), Michael Jordan (Ohio State).