Top 10 interior offensive linemen in the 2019 NFL Draft

#8 Nate Davis, Charlotte

Nate Davis was an all-state prospect from Virginia and after spending a year on becoming academically eligible, he stepped into the starting lineup for final ten games of 2015

This kid made a name for himself during Senior Bowl week. Nate Davis was an all-state prospect from Virginia and after spending a year on becoming academically eligible, he stepped into the starting lineup for final ten games of 2015.

He continued to excel at right guard the following two seasons, earning consecutive honorable mention All-Conference USA accolades. Davis was flexed out to tackle his senior year, where he was named second-team all-conference despite playing in only eight games due to a suspension.

Davis has the desired wide, thick frame for a guard prospect at 6’3”, 315 pounds. He uses an extremely low stance and fires out of it with good bend throughout his body, delivering a strong initial blow in the run game and usually determining where the defender will go.

He creates great movement as that angle-blocker on the backside of zone run plays and buries some of those guys, plus if he has to progress to a linebacker he has fluid hips to open and put hands on that secondary defender.

Davis has no issues whatsoever reaching guys on his outside shoulder and completely turns the defensive linemen inside, to the point where he would have to go right through Davis.

He has also shown excellent mobility to pull out in front and push around linebackers in space, as well as act as lead-blocker on plays, where he arrives at his target with some thump but also pretty good hand-placement.

He continues to push around defenders through the echo of the whistle and wants to land on top of them.

The small-school standout has a good shuffle in pass protection to square up his target. While playing tackle he put that inside arm towards the inside shoulder pad of the D-end to force him to really run the arc and he understood when to just drive his man upfield beyond the quarterback.

Inside at guard he uses the same principle to some degree when the rusher is coming up the B-gap, to not make himself susceptible to counter moves. Overall Davis displays great balance and body control to re-set his feet, square his shoulders and re-anchor.

What I really like is how active he is with his hands and his feet to control the rush. He was used as a puller on some protection schemes as well.

On too many occasions Davis drops his head as a run-blocker and will be back-doored or just swiped by playing against NFL defenders if he doesn’t correct that. The lack of length is a concern as you see him truly trying to extend himself with no bend in his elbow at times.

Davis displays poor technique as a cut-blocker, slowing down his man for a split-second at best. He missed seven combined games due to injury and suspension during his collegiate career, even though I thought one of his best tape came against 19th-ranked Kansas State, there is a lack of experience against quality competition.

Watching him go through drills at the NFL combine, flipping his hips and mirroring the rabbit, you see excellent flexibility and lateral agility from Davis.

Competition questions were somewhat answered during Senior Bowl week, although he will have to prove that he can do it consistently at the next level.

While he isn’t quite as long as you would like him to be, I think this is a kid you pick some time on day three and develop into a quality starter.