Evan Neal OT Alabama: Scouting Report

Height: 6’6’’

Weight: 350

Overall

Evan Neal is a larger-than-life left tackle in Alabama’s balanced offense. In his 3 college seasons, he played in 40 games, starting all of them. In his 40 starts, he started 15 at left tackle, 13 at left guard, and 12 at right tackle. He is a sufficient athlete for a player of his size and shows good toughness on film.

Pass Game

While playing at left tackle, Neal has inconsistent footwork in getting to his pass set and has some struggles against speed rushers off the edge. At times, when he gets a good shuffle to his spot he shows very good balance and is able to get hands on his man and eliminate them from the play. Other times however, his feet are far too narrow in his shuffle causing him to play off-balanced and allowing more space for edge rushers to get around him. He uses his size too often as a crutch rather than using his technique to block his man. He has very heavy feet which gives him struggles when needing to pick up stunt blitzes on the outside. He plays top heavy at times which makes him off balanced and is easily swiped away by quicker edge rushers. While he has these issues, he still showed the ability to be a strong pass protector on film due to his excellent size and strength. If he can improve his technique, footwork, and consistency he can grow into a dominant pass protecting left tackle. If he is unable to do this though he can still be a strong interior lineman if needed.

Run Game

In the run game, he continues to show very good power and when he gets his hands on his man, he can flip his hips and open up big running lanes. His heavy feet though make it difficult for him to block laterally but he does have the straight-line athleticism to block up field. His size and strength give him the upper hand when run blocking and if he can continue to improve his hand placement and balance he can be a very strong run blocker in the pros.

Last Word

In the film I watched, Neal was playing at left tackle and was an overall good player, but he has the flexibility to play many different positions on the line. He has NFL size and strength and can be day 1 starter at both tackle or guard but he needs to improve his technique before he can reach his high ceiling.

One-Liner: Evan Neal has excellent size, strength, and position flexibility but his inconsistent footwork and technique may give him problems early on in his career.

Grade: 7.0 (High End 3 Down Starter)

Games Watched: 2021 – Texas A&M, Auburn, Ole Miss, Georgia

Team Fits: Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos