The Football Brainiacs

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In our last Blind Tape Test we asked former OU and NFL RB Mossis Madu to look at Michael Warren, Joe Mixon and Nathan Starks. Here were the results: https://thefootballbrainiacs.com/?p=1773

The Blind Tape Test (like the blind taste test that was popular in the 80s with Coke and Pepsi) is where we give a former player or scout film to watch on certain high school recruits that Oklahoma may be interested in and we ask them to give us an evaluation of those players. We do not give the evaluator any information about the players in terms of their offers or recruiting background or anything of the sort. In fact we don’t even tell them what state they are from or what school they play for. They know little more than the size of the player. It’s all about the tape and what they see. We don’t offer our thoughts on the player prior to them viewing the tape. Our goal with these are to continue giving our readers the opinion of football guys on football players.

In our second edition of the Blind Tape test we asked Chris Trulove, former NFL scout and coordinator of pro scouting for the Denver Broncos to take a look at the following interior offensive linemen: Demetrius Knox, Jonathan Alvarez, Alex Dalton and Jordan Sims. Here were the results:

Jonathan Alvarez — Interior mauler.  Alvarez is a strong player in the box.  He is an above average athlete in terms of body quickness and agility but is very strong, especially with the hands. His initial quickness at the snap is above average and he can be a bit deliberate getting on blockers.  Once he locks on, he has good power and to finish.  While not explosive in terms of contact, he does have some real nasty to finish blockers and grind em into the ground.  He is better at the LOS than on the move or at the second level.  While his angles are good he plays with only average range.  He is effective in pass protection with a strong punch and does have good power to anchor.  Good power to make it onto the college field earlier than some but may lack enough upside to be an elite performer. GRADE: 3.3

Alex Dalton — Love this kid’s mentality.  You want guys like this on your team.  He’s nasty.  Dalton has good length and has room to put on collegiate muscle.  He is an above average athlete that makes up for any shortcomings with pure nasty effort to finish off defenders all the way to the whistle every down.  In the run game, he comes off the ball nice and low, has very good hand placement, locks on, and tries to punish.  He has a very good feel for walling off defenders at the 2^nd level and has above average agility and balance to adjust on the move.  He has good length to be an effective pass blocker but will need to improve his lower unit power to have an effective anchor vs the bull rush.  His added bonus material is his experience as a short and long snapper in the kicking game.  This could get him on the field early in his college career while he hits the training table.  May get overpowered at times early in his college career by the BIG BOYS but with added bulk and muscle, this guy will make his coaches sleep better at night.  Football player. GRADE: 3.7 

Demetrius Knox — Knox has very good size with a powerful lower unit.  He is a very good athlete.   He has good quickness at the snap and comes off the ball low and powerfully in the run game.  He gets under defenders and roots them out well.  He drives the legs and overpowers most defenders with ease.  He has good lateral agility to adjust his path and he does like to finish the blocks.  He will be a very effective run blocker at the college level.  He flashes intensity but it needs to be more consistent to be a dominant player.   Knox has the base and agility to be very effective in pass pro as well but like many will need continued footwork and hand placement improvement. He will not give much ground to the bull rush but will need to craft his angles and timing. He has very good physical tools and upside with refinement.    Well rounded ability to play in the box, on the move, or in pass protection.    Not a finished product, but with dedicated focus, he could be a very good one. GRADE: 3.8

Jordan Sims — Truck.  This guy can grade some roads.  Massive young man that uses his mass to totally overwhelm high school opponents.  He has below avg knee and ankle bend as well as only average initial and overall body quickness.  Takes some false steps at the snap in the run game but overcomes them with his size advantage.  Has above average body balance on the move with average quickness.  He does have a mean streak to finish blocks and when he does finish, defenders suffer.  He has very good length and anchor in pass pro and with the right technique focus he will be tough to beat on the interior.  Better box player than on the move.  Has the nature size and power to play early at the next level but will need to be in the right scheme to be special.  Tremendous upside with the right situation and dedication to improving conditioning and agility.  Boom or bust – it’s up to him. GRADE: 3.9