Jim Nagy, director of the Senior Bowl, doesn't think there is a sure-fire elite tackle at the top of this draft class. (Senior Bowl)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Myth or fact?: This NFL draft has a top tier of four elite offensive tackles and then there is a discernible drop-off to the second tier.
A prominent draft expert says that is myth.
Jim Nagy is no independent draftnik. He succeeded Phil Savage as executive director of the Senior Bowl after spending 18 years as an NFL scout with the Seahawks, Patriots, Redskins and Chiefs. He knows his stuff.
“It’s a good class,” Nagy said in an appearance on Countdown to the Draft on 850 ESPN Cleveland. “I don’t know if it’s a great class at the top.”
Nagy’s comments run counter to the narrative that a tackle-hungry team, such as the Browns, should race to select any one of the top four offensive tackles in the virtual NFL draft on April 23.
It is commonly believed that the Browns must/will use their No. 10 selection in the draft to fill their void at left tackle and finally find a worthy heir to Hall of Fame-bound Joe Thomas. They should have a couple options among Tristan Wirfs of Iowa, Jedrick Wills of Alabama, Mekhi Becton of Louisville and Andrew Thomas of Georgia.
But Nagy tapped the breaks on reserving a spot in Canton for any of the four.
“To me, there’s not an elite guy that you put on the tape and it’s just an easy, slam-dunk report to write as a scout,” Nagy said. “There’s not a Joe Thomas in this group. There’s not a Tyron Smith in this group, in my opinion. They’re all a little different as well, those top four juniors are all a little different.
“One thing I will say, to me there’s not really a pronounced shelf to that next group of guys, which are Josh Jones from Houston, Austin Jackson from USC, Saadiq Charles from LSU. To me, it’s kind of one big group, in my mind. There are a lot of good players. People are talking about this being an elite tackle class. I just don’t see it that way. I just see really good depth.”
(Nagy did not mention Ezra Cleveland of Boise State in the “next group of guys,” but I think it was just an inadvertent omission.)
Breaking down the top four
I asked Nagy to rank the top four tackles.
“They’re all a little different,” he said. “I think Mekhi Becton of Louisville has the most upside. He’s got the rarest stuff to work with in terms of size, initial quickness, and feet and length. This guy’s got a huge ceiling. So if you’re shooting for the moon, Becton’s the guy.
“I think the one most ready to play is Jedrick Wills from Alabama. He’s been a right side player mostly. I think he could function on the left side, but I think he’s a better fit on the right and I think he could also play guard. Really polished guy. Has played a lot of football. Just in terms of game in, game out production, he’s the most consistent one.
“Wirfs at Iowa is the guy that’s probably the hot name in the league right now, talking to friends in the league. He just has those high-end athletic traits everyone saw on display at the Combine, with the vertical jump and broad jump that rivaled wideouts. I mean, the guy put up rare stuff at Indy. But his tape’s a little inconsistent. To me, he’s not your typical polished-up, ready-to-go guy that [coach] Kirk Ferentz usually cranks out of Iowa. To me, he probably could have used another year of football for it to slow down a little for him. But I do think he is a left side player. He can pass protect all day long with his tools. I think he’s going to take some grooming, but offensive line coaches in the league are all over him right now because they know what he can be in two or three years with their coaching.
“And then Andrew Thomas is a guy right now better in the run game than pass pro, probably more of a right side guy than left side guy. Struggles a little bit in pass protection, just with feet and ability to mirror counters, and those sort of things. But where you’re really in the boat with Andrew Thomas, the more you talk to people at Georgia, they absolutely love the kid. And offensive line being such an intangibles-based position, that’s where I’m in the boat with Andrew Thomas. Because those people in Athens love him. Guys with his make-up usually figure out ways to become good players.”
As an aside, Nagy doesn’t agree with Browns GM Andrew Berry’s opinion that making a big deal out of left tackle v. right tackle is “outdated.”
“I think [the transition from right to left is] very under-rated,” Nagy said. “I think people just assume guys can do that. I tell people if you’re right-handed, try writing, try eating a bowl of cereal, try doing something left-handed. It’s the exact same thing. Not that it can’t be done. But to me it’s a difficult transition.
“You see the guys down here at the Senior Bowl, and we flop guys to both sides. Their good reps are usually at the side they’ve played their whole career. And when they get beat, it’s on the side they usually haven’t played. The funny thing to me, you read some takeaways from the Senior Bowl and people talk about this guy got beat a lot. Well, he’s usually getting beat on the side he doesn’t play a lot.”
Options for the Browns
Nagy’s opinions on this tackle class are in the minority. In fact, I haven’t heard anyone else say the tackles belong in one group of seven (or eight) instead of an elite group of four and then the next tier.
Now, if the Browns share his opinion, it’s quite possible they could use their first pick on another position – Clemson hybrid linebacker Isaiah Simmons, if he fell to them – and select a tackle with their second pick at No. 41.
Or they could elect to trade down from the No. 10 spot to collect, say, an extra third-round pick, and choose their tackle (Cleveland?) lower in the round.
These scenarios might cause Browns fans to shudder at the memory of infamous trade-downs in the 2016 and 2017 drafts, of which Berry and Paul DePodesta, chief strategy officer, were players in the decision-making process. Those did not work out well, other to supply the Browns with future assets.
But if Nagy’s evaluations of the offensive tackles are on the money, common sense – along with analytics – may dictate that trading down would be the right way to go this time.
Listen here for the full interview with Jim Nagy.