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Ereck Flowers, Jamon Brown, and now Cedric Ogbuehi have been listed as pre-draft offensive tackle visitors to Redskins Park. The Redskins tried to bring in a right tackle in free agency, and were linked to several players early. The market price was more than Scot McCloughan was willing to pay, and the only moves the team made were re-signing last year's starter Tom Compton, and not re-signing the team's other starter Tyler Polumbus. That leaves Compton, Xavier Nixon, and Morgan Moses who is recovering from Lisfranc surgery as the only tackles on the team with starting experience in the NFL.
The Redskins are expected to go defense with the 5th overall pick, but their options open up if they trade back. Cedric Ogbuehi(6'5", 306 lbs) was expected to be a 1st round pick following his final season at Texas A&M, but a torn ACL in the bowl game vs West Virginia makes projecting him more difficult. He will be attending the first round of the draft in Chicago, but is a longshot to hear his name called on Day 1.
Ogbuehi was considering entering the NFL Draft last year and received 1st round grades from the draft board, but Texas A&M took advantage of a new NCAA rule to entice him to stay for another year. His school purchased an insurance policy for $50,000-60,000 that would pay out if he was injured and it affected where he was selected in the draft. Dropping even a round or two is the difference in millions of dollars and loss of guarantees in rookie deals. The worst case scenario happened and Ogbuehi suffered a major injury(ACL) that will definitely affect his draft stock, but could pay him millions of dollars.
Ogbuehi played guard at Texas A&M for his first two years before switching to right tackle his junior season. Last year he was flipped over to left tackle, but was moved back to the right side after struggling. The Redskins could be looking at Ogbuehi as a late 2nd/early 3rd round steal due to his injury, but there are question marks about this year's OL class and he could go sooner.
The Redskins could use starters and depth at the guard and tackle position this year. They took two offensive linemen last year, but neither made much impact, and were drafted to be developed. Spencer Long was a 3rd round guard who was also coming off of an ACL injury. With Ogbuehi's injury happening late in the season, his return to practice is a big question mark. He claims that he will be ready to practice during training camp, but even then he will have missed rookie mini-camp and OTAs. Will the Redskins take a risk on Ogbuehi if his knee checks out and hope that new OL coach Bill Callahan can develop him quickly?
OT Cedric Ogbuehi’s last three visits: #Bengals #Broncos #Redskins
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) April 16, 2015
STRENGTHS Gifted athlete with foot quickness and ability to move easily in space. Has feet to slide and meet speed rushers. Easy weight shift to recover against counter moves. Is a second-level winner. Gets on top of linebackers quickly and can adjust in space to moving targets. Played in warp-speed offense and is well-conditioned. Keeps feet moving through contact on zone plays and sustains blocks until he wins. On gap plays, works to secure inside shoulder and gets defenders turned. Has played both tackle spots and right guard. Has matched up against premier college defensive linemen.
WEAKNESSES Functional power and anchor are legitimate concerns. Technique flaws make pass protection harder than it has to be. Football leverage isn't as good as expected. Doesn't play with enough bend at impact. His punch in pass pro can be woefully mistimed and he plays with wide hands and some wasted motion in setup. Base tends to narrow when pass rush gets to his high side. Not a powerful tackle and won't generate much push as in-line blocker. Was one of the SEC leaders in sacks allowed in 2014. Tore his ACL in Aggies' bowl game, and won't be able to go through a full pre-draft workout for NFL personnel men.
DRAFT PROJECTION Round 1 or 2
NFL COMPARISON Eugene Monroe
BOTTOM LINE NFL evaluators are very worried about Ogbuehi's core strength and ability to anchor in pass protection, but some of his anchor issues could be improved with technique work -- especially where his hands are concerned. He should be a plus run blocker, especially on stretch plays, but needs to add strength and work on technique if he is to reach his play potential. Ogbuehi's bowl-game injury could hurt his draft standing, but his traits and potential might be able to keep him in the first round.