HEIGHT: 6-4
WEIGHT: 329
COLLEGE: Oklahoma
CLASS: Redshirt Junior
GAMES WATCHED (7): Alabama, UCLA, West Virginia, Florida Atlantic, Iowa State, Army, Baylor (2018)
40 | BENCH | VERT | BROAD | 3 CONE | 20S | 60S |
5.21 | 19 | 28.5″ | 104″ | 8.27 | 4.87 |
SIZE/PHYSICAL TRAITS (5/5)
- Massive body frame without bad weight
- Good length for the offensive tackle position (34″ arms)
PASS BLOCKING (26/30)
- Does a pretty good job of sustaining blocks in pass protection reps despite inconsistent hand placement (allowed just seven pressures and one sack in all of 2018)
- Generally mirrors well and doesn’t give up the inside path
- Anchors well and doesn’t give up much, if any, ground to power rushers who try to get under his pads
- Excellent grip strength to lock out defenders once he lands his punch — effectively eliminates pass rushers from the play once he locks his grip in
- Occasionally gives up the outside edge or is nearly beaten around the outside edge due to inefficient footwork
RUN BLOCKING (18/20)
- Road-grading run blocker — physical finisher who displays outstanding effort on every rep; always plays through the whistle
- Occasionally overruns targets on second level blocks
TECHNIQUE (10.5/15)
- Footwork is consistently balanced, but at times inefficient — has good foot quickness and is perfectly capable of generating needed depth out of kick-slide to match outside edge speed
- Patient pass blocker — rarely lunges or gets off balance
- Bends knees and generally plays with good pad level in pass blocking reps
- Hand placement is inconsistent — hands land wide sometimes, but reach helps compensate; can refit hands and gain control if initial placement isn’t perfect
- Keeps feet moving laterally to sustain blocks in pass protection reps
- Good timing on combo blocks
- Has good “pop” in has hands, but sometimes he’ll “catch” defenders instead of shooting his hands powerfully; can be late with his punch on occasion
- Pad level can get high when run blocking
MOVEMENT SKILLS (12/15)
- Good athlete for 330 lbs.
- Good foot quickness out of kick-slide with proper footwork — can cut off outside edge angles when presented with speed rush
- Fluid mover on zone-blocking concepts — has enough quickness to pull to the opposite side of the formation/pull to the second level and reach landmarks
- Length and functional athleticism afford him recovery opportunities on occasions where he loses a rep early in the play
AWARENESS/BLITZ RECOGNITION (13.5/15)
- Good processor who recognizes twists/stunts and adjusts accordingly
RED FLAGS
- Missed majority of 2016 season with broken tibia
OVERALL GRADE: 85.00/100.00 — 1ST ROUND — Rookie starter; top-15 player at position/Pro Bowl potential
SCHEME FIT: Great fit for gap-blocking scheme; athletic enough to fit zone-blocking scheme
DRAFT PROJECTION: MID-LATE 1ST ROUND
“Cody Ford has gotten a good share of guard projections at the next level, but I believe that his movement skills and length give him plenty of upside at the more highly-valued position of offensive tackle. He’s the best run-blocking offensive tackle in this year’s draft class, and he’s one of the position group’s best pass blockers as well, despite one year of starting experience and technical inconsistencies. If a good offensive line coach gets their hands on Ford, he could easily be molded into one of the top right tackles in the NFL after a few seasons.” — Dan Wussow