Mekhi Becton's 5.1 40 time was considered sensational for a man 6-7 and 360 pounds. (nfl.com)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
In just one year of coaching Mekhi Becton at the University of Louisville, Dwayne Ledford, Cardinals offensive coordinator and line coach, had a few memorable “oh, wow” moments with the behemoth offensive tackle.
One was the first summer practice in 2019. Ledford was introducing his wide-zone blocking scheme – same as what the Browns will be running under coach Kevin Stefanski. At 6-7 and 360 pounds, Becton’s agility was naturally questioned.
“Coming into it, those type of linemen in that scheme are a little bit undersized, but they’re very athletic. They can move well,” Ledford said on an appearance on Countdown to the Draft on 850 ESPN Cleveland. “Typically you don’t see somebody like Mekhi’s stature running that. [You’re wondering], is he able to? I remember our first day of practice, at the conclusion, I went to our head coach [Scott Satterfield] and said, ‘We have nothing to worry about. He can do everything we’re going to ask him to do in this system.’”
Flash forward to Louisville’s 56-34 victory over Syracuse on Nov. 23.
Becton had missed the previous game with an ankle injury. The Syracuse game was Louisville’s last home game for seniors. Becton, a junior, was pumped all week preparing to play because he knew it probably was his last home game, too, as he was already of mind to come out in the draft.
“He went out and played that Syracuse game like I’ve never seen before at the position,” said Ledford, who played center for four NFL teams, including a brief stop with the Browns in 2005. “The way he was finishing guys … he was signaling us from the sideline, running behind me … so into it. He had a couple blocks in that game. My wife came down to the sideline at the conclusion of the game. I said, ‘Honey, we have a monster. I’ve never seen a kid play like that.’ It was phenomenal to see.”
Becton’s rise to the elite of a very good offensive tackle class in the 2020 NFL draft is why he is on the Browns’ radar for consideration of their first overall pick at No. 10.
Wide, wide zone
Becton’s massive improvement under Ledford started with “buying in” to the wide zone and working hard on bending to play from a 3-point stance. It’s easier for such a large man to line up more vertically without one hand on the ground. Ledford felt it would greatly improve Becton’s leverage to counter quicker and smaller defensive ends.
“He worked hard at it and did a great job at it,” Ledford said. “That showed his coachability and his work ethic the whole season. Everybody’s different, every stance is different. You want those good positive movements, those good first steps. To be able to get him to do that from a 3 point stance, that was something he had to work hard on.”
The year before, Ledford coached Garrett Bradbury at North Carolina State, who was comparatively tiny at 6-3, 306. The Minnesota Vikings drafted Bradbury in the first round at No. 18 and plugged him into the wide zone scheme Stefanski brought to Cleveland. Ledford believes the exposure to the system in college will benefit Becton just as it did Bradbury.
“You get to see these players run that system and how well are the issues they have running it,” Ledford said. “In the case of Garrett and Mekhi, they excelled in it.”
Nimble feet
At the NFL Combine, Becton credited playing basketball for being able to play light on his feet.
“If he was a basketball player I think he could be a 20 [points]-10 [rebounds] guy,” Ledford said. “He’s that type of athlete. He’s just a big person. I’ve never been around anybody like him before.”
The concerns about Becton are that he had only one good year at Louisville (after Ledford arrived) and that he may have trouble controlling his weight. Ledford said that coaches warned him only one time when his weight crept above their limit and he never exceeded it again.
“Now, I don’t think Mekhi’s going to be a guy that ever weighs under 350,” Ledford said. “But he’s under 20 percent body fat. That’s a lot of lean muscle mass he carries. He’s just a very thick, big person. His athleticism, and what he’s able to do at that size … to be able to coach him a year, a lot of times there’s this stigma that he can’t run this system. He completely blew my mind and how the way I perceive that now. To coach him for that year, my perception is completely different now.
“The other thing about it is, a lot of times you see a big guy and think, ‘How hard does he work?’ We always want our guys finishing downfield. I think if you see a lot of the clips on social media, you see him finishing blocks extremely well, getting downfield and getting those extra blocks. I told the guys when I first got here, we hound on that every day. We want to see guys finishing, finishing, finishing. I told the guys, ‘You guys are going to practice so hard and there’s going to be so much running in this system, you’ll be in great shape because of the demands we put on you.’ There was not once when Mekhi got tired in a game.”
At the Combine, Becton said he was “the most dominant tackle in this draft.”
Ledford wouldn’t go that far because he said he hasn’t studied the others in the elite four – Jedrick Wills of Alabama, Andrew Thomas of Georgia and Tristan Wirfs of Iowa. Wirfs and Becton put on a show with their athleticism at the Combine.
“If there’s someone better than him, I would love to see it,” Ledford said. “The thing that Mekhi has going for him is what he’s able to do at his size. If you have a 300-pound lineman and a 360-pound lineman who can run a 5-flat 40 and do the things you see on film from an athletic standpoint, more mass is going to be more force that you’re playing with at that position. You either got it or you don’t have it. Mekhi is gifted with size and a great work ethic and desire to be the best out there.”
(Listen here for the full interview with Louisville coach Dwayne Ledford on Countdown to the Draft.)