OL arm length this year has been the one lacking trait

I've been curious about how arm length correlates to the success of the top performers at tackles, and how the current draft class would stack up. Here are the top 16 PFF highest graded tackles last season + the 4 rookie OTs drafted round 1. All arm length measurements for the current pros are found on https://nflcombineresults.com.


Player Arm Length (inches)
Trent Williams 34.25
David Bakhtiari 34
Garett Bolles 34
DJ Humphries 33.63
Duane Brown 34.25
Andrew Whitworth 35
Terron Armstead 34.08
Tristan Wirfs 34
Michael Onwenu 34.34
Jack Conklin 35
Isaiah Wynn 33.38
Taylor Decker 33.75
Taylor Moton 34.13
Rob Havenstein 33.75
Dion Dawkins 35
Eric Fisher 34.5
Braden Smith 32.25
Mekhi Becton 35.625
Andrew Thomas 36.125
Jedrick Wills 34.25

Average = 34.33 Median = 34.33


Now let's look at this year's tackles and their measurements:

Player Arm Length (inches)
Penei Sewell 33.25
Rashawn Slater 33
Vera-Tucker. 32.25
Christian Darrisaw. 34.5
Samuel Cosmi 33
Teven Jenkins 32.88
*Liam Eichenberg. 32.38
*Dillon Radunz. 33.28
*Jalen Mayfield 32.63
*Alex Leatherwood. 34.34
Brady Christensen. 32.25
James Hudson 33
Spencer Brown 34
Jackson Carman 32.5

*Possible round 2 option with OG versatility

The trend suggests that the very best offensive tackles tend to have 34+ inch arms. There are some apparent outliers such as Braden Smith of the Colts who is measured in at 32.25 inches. So far only 3 tackle prospects who have 34-inch arms or longer in the 2021 draft: Christian Darrisaw, Alex Leatherwood, and Spencer Brown.

Giants tend to love the longer armed guys especially at Tackle. This year though it seems the bigger need is at OG.

Aside from Sewell who is such an absolute freak at 331 lbs (besides less than ideal arm length) I don't know if the Giants would pull the trigger on any other 'shorter armed OL' at 11.

Also our history of picking a guy for the OG position has shown almost NO OG in the first round for 50+ years.