Adrian Ealy 2021 NFL Draft Overview
Position: Offensive Tackle
Height: 6’6.5”
Weight: 321 lbs.
School: Oklahoma Sooners
Pro Day Performance
40-yard Dash: 5.42 seconds
Vertical Jump: 24.5”
Broad Jump: 8 feet, 8 inches
Bench Press: 18 reps
3-Cone Drill: 8.82 seconds
Adrian Ealy 2021 NFL Draft Profile
Adrian Ealy was an All-State selection in both his junior and senior year at East Ascension High School in Gonzales, LA. Ranked as a 4-star recruit, he chose to play at the University of Oklahoma over the likes of Arizona, Michigan, and LSU. When he arrived at Oklahoma as a freshman in 2017, he redshirted so that he could develop his body, technique, and obtain a better grasp for the offense. As a redshirt freshman in 2018 he played in 5 games as a backup right tackle. In 2019 he won the starting right tackle job in spring practice and ran with it. He started all 12 games that he played in, and garnered a second-team All-Big 12 designation. After his great first season as a full-time starter in 2019, he started all 11 games in the 2020 season as a redshirt Junior and once again earned second-team All-Big 12 honors. He only allowed three sacks on 421 pass plays.
When watching Ealy play, two major things stand out. One is that he’s an absolute bulldozer in the run game. The other is that he doesn’t seem to play with great leverage or knee bend but he still manages to get the job done on a consistent basis. He shows excellent upper body power and strength which allows him to make up for some of that. He does a great job of knowing how to work with his weaknesses and negate them with great technique and power. For example, he knows that he can’t run with traditional speed rushers so instead of using a more traditional pass set, he’ll either jump set or vertical set. By using a jump set he’s able to close the gap between himself and the defensive lineman faster so he can get his hands on them first. Whether it’s in the passing game or run game, if Ealy gets his hands on his opponent it’s over. The only way to truly beat him is with pure speed and dip around the edge or getting underneath his pads and bull-rushing him back into the quarterback.
His above-average pass blocking is what separates him from the other offensive tackles in this draft. He appears to be a waist bender at times, but he uses great overall technique and delivers a powerful initial strike to knock defenders off track. He has quicker feet than you would expect for a man of his size which translates positively to both the pass and run game. Oklahoma’s offense requires their offensive lineman to be incredibly athletic because they run a lot of screens and stretch plays which requires the lineman to run off the ball and play in space. Being able to successfully do that at 6’6.5″, 326 lbs. is special. He also does a pretty good job of keeping his feet moving at the point of contact in the run game as well. Ealy looked incredibly good at the senior bowl in both daily practices and the game itself, which helped improve his NFL draft stock. He was a leader and one of Oklahoma’s top offensive lineman for the past two seasons.
Strengths
- Great feet;
- Manhandles defensive lineman at the point of attack;
- High football IQ;
- Keeps his head on a swivel in the passing game;
- Delivers an explosive hand punch;
- Possesses elite power to steer and hip torque defenders out of the play;
- Does a good job of recognizing stunts.
Weaknesses
- Waist bender;
- Doesn’t play with great leverage, allowing defenders to get under his pads at times;
- Can be beaten by speed rushers;
- Naturally plays with a high pad level;
- Due to his size, second-level defenders can sometimes elude him.
NFL Comparison: Orlando Brown Jr.
Projection: 3rd – 4th Round
Bottom Line On Adrian Ealy
Adrian Ealy is a solid offensive tackle prospect in this year’s draft. He possesses a lot of things that NFL teams love, and is coachable enough to work on some of the things that he struggles with. He obviously needs to work on a couple of things, and most importantly, he needs to do a better job of keeping his hips low to anchor against the bull rush. Overall, with some solid coaching he might be able to step into a starting lineup right away as a rookie.
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