OL Prospect: Phil Loadholt

[G08]

From cbssports.com:

Scouting Report
GENERAL REPORT: GRADE: 6.22

Body Structure: Has a massive frame with outstanding muscle development and thickness throughout his upper and lower body. With his long arms, big bubble and large hands, he can easily absorb smaller defenders. Has excellent thigh and calf thickness with broad shoulders. He's massive but his frame is not soft or fleshy.

Athletic Ability: Needs to monitor his weight (has been as high as 380 pounds) and his girth can cause him to struggle staying low in his pads. He has worked hard during his senior year to improve his overall agility and increase his power base. For a player of his size, he shows good agility for his position. He lacks explosion, but his feet are quick enough and his balance functional enough to sustain blocks (just lacks the hip snap to redirect). He is no "dancing bear," but is lighter on his feet working down the line than one would expect. He flashes the ability to adjust working in the short area, but will revert to playing with a narrow base, at times. GRADE: 6.8

Football Sense: Was a non-qualifier entering college. Some are concerned that he will not be able to digest a complicated playbook. He is a work in progress in the mental aspect of the game, but takes well to hard coaching and will do whatever it takes to succeed. He will get taken out of his game and revert to foolish penalties, but as a senior, he seemed to be much more alert to his surroundings, evident by his 16 touchdown-resulting blocks and a very impressive reduction in penalties (from 13 in 2007 to four in 2008). GRADE: 5.8

Character: Loadholt had two off-field issues (suspicion of DUI/disorderly conduct) that could be character concerns. He has responded to tough coaching at Oklahoma and neither staff at OU or at Garden City has anything bad to say about him. He is still maturing off the field and is not a problem on the field. GRADE: 5.6

Competitiveness: Has good mental toughness and will not back down from a confrontation but isn't aggressive. He uses his body a bit as a crutch to lean into a defender, but he is a strong finisher who might not succeed all the time due to poor feet, but he will give the effort to make blocks down field. GRADE: 6.8

Work Habits: Needs to be pushed, but he does respond. Not the type to show aggression on every play, but he does work hard in the training room and appears to have "bought into the program" that hard work in the offseason pays off. While he does need structure, he is a team player who does what the coaches ask (just not a self-starter who can do things on his own). GRADE: 6.1

ATHLETIC REPORT

GRADE: 6.15

Initial Quickness: Too methodical coming out of his stance to create movement, other than using his body mass. Even though he lacks explosion out of his stance, it is rare to see him give up on a play and is the type that locates secondary targets to hit after delivering the initial block. When he uses his natural knee bend, he has good success to leverage (will get into trouble vs. the bull rush when he bends at the waist, failing to redirect). He has adequate quickness and foot speed, sliding and reaching his set point effectively, along with the size and strength to create movement and clear rush lanes, but needs to use his hands better to lock up and sustain. A player of his size needs to drive and maul better than he does, but he uses his body to wall off. He struggles in the open on trap plays, but has enough quickness (just must learn to lower his pads) to work in combination with the interior blockers on gap protection. GRADE: 5.4

Lateral Movement: Has decent quickness for a player his size, but does not always mirror defenders when working on the edge (slow to bring his feet), as he is too stiff to open up his hips to slide back and recover when he is beaten by a speed move. He needs to do a better job of staying square in his base, but can deliver adequate lateral movement working in the short area. His problems come because of poor balance, as he tends to leave his feet too much and is a liability if a team needs him to move into the second level. GRADE: 5.2

Balance/Stays On Feet: Has very good lower-body mass and thickness, but it does not translate into a strong anchor (gets up on his heels, causing him to lose balance). He lacks the body control and balance to recover quickly when beaten, but when he stays in front of an opponent, he uses his frame well to occupy and sustain. When he bends at the waist in the open, he gets off balance, but when he keeps his base wide, he will finish. His hand strength lets him control defenders playing over his head (lacks lateral agility to effectively slide and mirror vs. speed rushers) and started to show in 2008 that he has a better concept for knowing when to use his body to sit and anchor without overextended for blocks. GRADE: 5.9

Explosion/Pop: Stout at the point of attack when he plays with a wide base and is starting to show confidence in his reach to separate and pin the defender at the point of attack. Excels with phone booth combat, where his huge frame and outstanding wing span help him engulf defenders. He has just marginal-to-adequate foot quickness to slide and is not really an explosive hip roller, but is a physical drive blocker who uses his body mass effectively to push and move defenders off the line. Doesn't play with good leverage, struggles to keep his pads down and gets narrow-based and loses balance when asked to play in space.

Is a much better blocker in tight quarters, making him a more likely guard prospect, as he simply can't adjust to speed moves along the edge. Even at 340-plus pounds, he will need to drop weight and be more dominant with his initial surge if he is to have success at offensive guard. GRADE: 7.1

Run Blocking: Loadholt spends too much time on the ground as a drive blocker and needs to play on his feet better rather than trying to lunge and execute a low block. More comfortable walling and sealing off when working in the rush lanes, but with his size, a patient coach can teach him to use it to generate better pop on contact. He has strong hands to control (just inconsistent) and when he plays on his feet, he has enough range to sustain blocks. He will push and finish strongly, if he properly bends his knees on drive blocks. Despite these mechanical flaws, he does a good job of driving through defenders and has had good success using his body mass to gain movement off the snap. GRADE: 7.0

Pass Blocking: His heavy feet cause problems when asked to slide out and defend on the edge, making him a better candidate for right tackle or a shift inside to guard (will not be able to handle speed moves from left tackle in the NFL). His pass set is marginal -- trips over and crosses his feet rather than playing with a wide base to anchor. He looks hesitant when trying to maintain inside leverage and re-adjust back when the defender slides off his blocks. Can be beaten by the speed rush and quick counter moves, as he generally plays with a narrow base that sees him struggle to mirror and adjust in pass protection, but with improved hand placement and punch, he can get an advantage protecting the pocket. Crosses his feet and will struggle vs. counter moves, but when he drops his pads and uses his size, he will be able to sustain. GRADE: 6.3

Pulling/Trapping: Loadholt shows better quickness than expected on the short pulls when he is able to open his hips and get down the line of scrimmage to pick up on short traps (lacks consistency and a good pad level, but showed some areas of improvement here in 2008). Good on the short traps, but he needs to do a much better job of redirecting and shuffling his feet moving down the line. He is too much of a waist bender to be asked to do much on traps and pulls and when he does attempt to get to the second level, his feet will suddenly stop when trying to angle (will trip over them or take false steps before redirecting). GRADE: 6.3

Adjust on Linebacker Downfield: Struggles to reach and adjust when pulling into the second level (better working near the line). He is not consistent shooting his strong hands, but he has the upper-body strength to catch with extended arms and keep proper separation. When he gets overextended, he will lunge and miss in the open field. GRADE: 5.4

Use of Hands/Punch: Would expect better power to pop and jolt with his hands, but when he gets his mitts into an opponent's chest, the battle ends quickly. Loadholt uses his size to wall off defenders, showing proper hand usage to engage and punch his opponent (only when he keeps his hands inside). When he stays low in his pads and generates proper hand placement he does a good job of using his size to wall off on the edge. His hand jolt is inconsistent, but he has the upper-body power to rocks the defenders back on their heels. He gets too wide with his hands coming off the snap, which results in defenders having good success attacking his chest. Despite his size, a strong bull rush will walk him back, especially when working in-line. GRADE: 6.8

Reactions/Awareness: Scouts say that Loadholt needs to play with better field awareness and concentration, as he gets too "antsy" by a charging defender and is easily drawn offside, (resulting in 17 costly penalties in 27 games as a Sooner), but as a senior, he was much more alert to the snap cadence to cut down on his rash of false starts. He needs a patient coach to help him develop, but until 2008, there were doubts in scouting circles that he had the mental capability to respond. Being a junior college transfer, it might have taken him longer to adjust to major college life, but the Sooners staff says he needs just a few more reps than normal to retain and he showed in 2008 that he had a better grasp of his assignments than he showed as a junior. GRADE: 6.1

Compares To: MAX STARKS, Pittsburgh -- Might develop into a left tackle, but his lack of lateral range and explosion off the snap would make him a better fit on the right side or in the interior, as he is best when playing in a phone booth rather than working on an island. For a team that plays smash-mouth football, he could be an ideal fit, as you need a city to get around his massive frame. He just appears too stiff in his hips to trust him with protecting a quarterback's blind side at this stage of his game.

OVERALL GRADE: 6.16

CAREER Analysis

Started all 48 games he played in during his collegiate career at left offensive tackle, including 27 contests at Oklahoma and 21 more at Garden City College … Made 213 knockdowns with 20 touchdown-resulting blocks during his junior college career … Posted 212 knockdowns, 29 touchdown-resulting blocks, thirteen down field blocks and was penalized 17 times in 1,562 offensive plays for the Sooners … Allowed only 6.5 QB sacks and two pressures on 639 pass plays … Graded over 90% for blocking consistency in three games for the Sooners (95 vs. Baylor in 2007, 90 vs. Kansas State and 99 vs. Texas Tech in 2008), finishing with an overall grade of 82.96% at Oklahoma.

[RING4CHI]

A guy with no flexibility in his feet. I'll pass.

[Fumblebuck]

The breakdown reads alittle like you'd see from former Bear Aaron Gibson.

[G08]

A guy with no flexibility in his feet. I'll pass.

Who does have flexibile feet, hell I can barely crack 45 degrees these days

Anyway, I like him as a second/third round pick.

[RING4CHI]

I like him as a waste of a pick.

[G08]

Care to elaborate? Sirius radio is talking highly of the guy and explaining that teams are considering not using a first round pick on a lineman if they have a shot at this guy in the second.

Would you rather us take Josh Freeman?

[RING4CHI]

Care to elaborate?

He's not going to have the feet to be a good pass protector in the NFL. Look how many times he almost got beat around the edge. If he's almost getting beat in pass protecting in college, he WILL be beat in the NFL. And he doesn't go full throttle and will take running plays off.

Would you rather us take Josh Freeman?

HELL YES.

[RING4CHI]

I will give Loadholt this: when he does play well he reminds me of James "Big Cat" Williams.

I just don't see enough there that makes using a draft pick on him worthy.

[G08]

Same height as Big Cat, and Loadhold actually has a good 20 lbs on him

Anywho, here's another profile on him from newerascouting:

Phil Loadholt- Scouting Report
OT- Offensive Tackle
#79 | Oklahoma

Scout: Matt Miller
Date: June 2, 2008
Eval Position(s): OT - Offensive Tackle

Height: 6′7
Weight: 350
40 Time: 4.9
Bench Press: N/A
Vertical Jump: N/A
Three Cone: N/A

Best Fit Position/Role: Left Tackle
Ideal Scheme/Role: Power scheme (Pittsburgh Steelers/Arizona Cardinals)

Strengths: Is a high character person and player. Has not been a problem off the field or on it. Plays hard all game. Has worked hard to learn the OU offense after enrolling in January of 2007. Quickly adapted to the scheme and became a starter. A former JUCO player from Garden City (KS). Started 14 games at left tackle in his first season at Oklahoma. Picked up the Oklahoma offense quickly and does not miss assignments on the field. Has long arms and legs. Great thickness throughout his lower and upper body. An amazing athlete for his size. Moves very well and is naturally strong. Has great length and bulk with a big bubble and lean legs. Has not missed time due to injury. Doesn’t take plays off. Comes off hard every snap. Comes out of a two-point stance on most downs. Has a wide base and a quick back step. Works well back to his left. Can stand up a defender. Good arm lock and elbow bend. Good awareness. Gets help from LG Duke Robinson at times and works well on the double. Quick off the ball. Chops his feet well and can mirror a defender. Can pull and works down the line of scrimmage well. Has a very nice hinge block to protect the weakside on runs. Will engulf a defender. Gets to the second level well. Will work upfield looking for people to block. Strong enough to push the pile upfield. Is strong in his arms and legs. Strong enough to block any college lineman one-on-one. Has very good natural strength and could still get stronger with more time in the weight room. Will dip his shoulders to drive a defender to the ground. Shows good balance. A knee bender. Keeps his hands up and never lets the defender get in to his body.

Weaknesses: Has been exploited on the outside speed rush. Needs to get in to position faster. May be better at right tackle. Mirrors well, but doesn’t have a strong punch with his left hand. Needs to add lower body strength, as he can rely too often on his upper body. Gets a little high coming out of his stance. Works best out of a two-point.

Overall: Loadholt enters the 2009 NFL Draft as an All American after being honored as a Honorable mention All-American by Sports Illustrated, Dallas Morning News’ All-Big 12 first team and second team All-Big 12 by the coaches and Associated Press. His combination of size, strength and potential make him a lock for the first day of the Draft. A move to right tackle may be best for the longevity of his career, but this will depend largely on the scheme he is drafted in to.

Injury Concerns: None

Could be as good as: Jonathan Ogden, Baltimore Ravens
Worst case: Marcus McNeill, San Diego Chargers

Where he’ll probably go: Top 35
Where he should go: First Round