I know rookie tackles always have an adjustment and Neal has good physical attributes and a great mature mindset. However, I have always seen and heard he is top heavy and to compound it, lunges, and winds up on the ground a bit. Draft evaluators have pointed this out as have in season announcers and you can see it when playing back the game tape.
Rookie OL will often struggle, just like Thomas did (although I think a lot of it was his ankle which required 2 surgeries to hopefully correct), but is there a bigger flaw here (especially in pass protection) with Neal that can’t be coached out?
I am a big Neal fan, we need him to succeed and form a bookend tackle tandem for the next 10 years. Curious for others opinions on this.
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In comment 15848294 Eric from BBI said:
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You're asking if Neal will turn out like Thomas or Flowers?
Do you think anyone here actually knows the answer to that?
I didn’t ask that at all.
Sure you did.
Respectfully, please don’t put words in my mouth. Pet peeve of mine, thx
I think you need to look around the league and certainly in the past that there have been many OTs 6'7 or taller who have succeeded at a high level in the NFL. Is that what you are asking?
Neal has already had stretches of dominant pass blocking. In the first half in week 1 vs TENN, their pass rushers had stretches of what looked to me like utter futility going against Neal.
The last couple of weeks have been rougher but all the signs on Neal look really favorable to me.
Very encouraging to read this.
Knock people backwards
Evan… meet your new teacher, Preston Smith.
He was not known for poor balance and feet. He was considered the #1 player in the draft for a time and a top 5 pick
Bryant McKinney, John Ogden, Orlando pace, Andrew Whitworth, jumbo elliott, were all 6'7 or taller. Joe Thomas and brick ferguson was 6'6.
I dont think Neal is top heavy. He's decidedly lean for an Offensive Tackle. He is not carrying around belly weight or flab.
This...I watched and Skinner said it wasn't perfect but shows improvement. The guy isn't Flowers. Erik Flowers looked the part but didn't have the skills, coachability or intangibility that Neal has. Neal is also a freak athlete for his size while Flowers was a lump on scholarship. All we can ask is weekly progress to get to where he is a strength. Patience
Varying degrees of success, but finding that it's frankly not uncommon at all.
I dont think Neal is top heavy. He's decidedly lean for an Offensive Tackle. He is not carrying around belly weight or flab.
Thanks. He is lean but was concerned Re ability to anchor and with the height and fact he winds up on the ground quite a bit. Wanted to know if it could be coached out through technique or his height and not being bottom heavy presented additional obstacles.
Sy'56 gave him an 87 grade (future Pro Bowler)...
...His floor is better than average starting NFL tackle, his ceiling is what Andrew Thomas is doing right now.