Ryan Ramczyk 2017 NFL Draft Profile

Ryan Ramczyk 2017 NFL Draft Profile

Ryan Ramczyk‘s journey towards being a possible day one selection in the draft is unique. Coming out of high school, he garnered quite a bit of interest from major programs but initially decided not to pursue football in college. He attended Division II Winona State and, after that, Mid-State Technical College before moving to D-III Wisconsin-Stevens Point. It was there where he began to realize his potential.

Ramczyk played in every single game during his two seasons with the Pointers. The team named him offensive freshman of the year in 2013. A year later, he earned first team all-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors. After that, he decided to transfer to Wisconsin and play under head coach Paul Chryst who originally recruited him when he held the same position at Pittsburgh.

It turned out to be a good move. After sitting out a year, Ramczyk immediately contributed on the Badgers offensive line, making 14 starts at left tackle. He helped anchor a Wisconsin offense that averaged 203.1 rushing yards per game, good enough for third in the Big Ten behind Ohio State and Michigan. He made the all-Big Ten first team while taking home consensus all-American honors as well.

Strengths

excellent knee bend and pad level on initial contact with defender;

slides laterally very well with crisp footwork to redirect edge rushers away from quarterback;

blocks with active, forceful hands;

keeps body square to target at all times;

quick to engage target in run blocking;

will reset hands without panicking if defenders initially get upper hand;

comfortable and capable in zone blocking situations;

Pro Football Focus rated him the best run blocker at his position in FBS last year.

Weaknesses

adequate but not super ideal arm length for a next level tackle;

overly protective of perimeter, making him susceptible to spin moves inside;

could have issues keeping lengthy, athletic edge rushers bottled up;

tends to play with a narrow base which can impact ability to get outside on kick slides;

shoulders can tilt past feet at times, resulting in center of gravity issues;

bit of an injury red flag in the form of major hip surgery after last season.

NFL Comparison: Taylor Decker

Teams With Need at Position: Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks

Projection: middle to late first round

Bottom Line

Ramczyk checks a multitude of boxes relating to his NFL readiness. He’s an athletic, scheme versatile tackle with the upper body strength and overall coordination to keep edge rushers in check. There are concerns about a hip injury which required surgery and forced him to only be able to do bench press at the Combine while missing his Pro Day altogether. But the overall consensus is that Ramczyk can get into training camp on a tackle-needy team and contribute right off the bat. Expect him to come off the board on day one with the high probability he can get starter reps right off the bat.

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