Ezra Cleveland 2020 NFL Draft Profile

After spending the past three seasons starting for Boise State, offensive tackle Ezra Cleveland is taking his talents to the NFL level. The 6’-6”, 311-pounder is coming off arguably the best season of his young career. Seeing the field for 916 snaps, Cleveland allowed just three sacks, two quarterback hits, and seven hurries.

Ezra Cleveland initially joined the collegiate ranks as a three-star recruit. This was in no way a reflection of his build, as he reportedly graduating high school at 6’-6” and 275 pounds. However, Cleveland played defense in high school and needed to learn the tackle position on the fly. After redshirting in 2016, the Washington native earned the starting left tackle job in 2017. Appearing in 1,008 snaps, Cleveland allowed six sacks, four quarterback hits, and nine hurries. He improved as a redshirt sophomore, allowing just two sacks, four hits, and eight hurries on 973 snaps.

Strengths

Smooth, agile mover with great athleticism;

Can play in multiple blocking schemes;

Multi-year starter with a long history of success;

Solid fundamentals – hands, feet work in unison with each other;

Quick off the snap and rarely loses to speed;

Solid center of gravity and always keeps his balance.

Weaknesses

Not as strong as you’d like;

Susceptible to bull rushes if he doesn’t make first contact;

Punch isn’t nearly as effective as it should be;

Didn’t face the highest competition in college;

Could stand to add a few pounds at the next level;

Rarely dominates an opponent.

NFL Comparison: Guy Whimper

Projection: Early Round 2

Bottom Line on Ezra Cleveland

Ezra Cleveland is one of the better offensive tackles in the NFL Draft and could find himself as a Week 1 starter. The Boise State product is quick on his feet and should be able to match the speed of any edge rusher he faces. He’s athletic enough to play in a gap- and zone-blocking scheme and has fantastic reflexes off the snap. He’s never out of position and has the raw potential to turn into a 10-year starter.

The biggest question with Cleveland is his strength. His slightly below-average weight shows up on film, as he struggled to match up against the bigger, stronger edge defenders he faced. His punch doesn’t do nearly enough to dissuade defenders and he can be pushed around when first engaged. This issue is compounded when you consider that he hasn’t exactly faced the best college football had to offer. In a perfect world, Cleveland would probably spend his rookie season adding on mass before earning a starting job in 2021. However, this is not a perfect world, so he might need to add some muscle on the fly to handle NFL strength.

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