Tackle Austin Corbett Will Be Moving Inside In The NFL. Can He Be The Answer At LG For The Redskins?

Austin Corbett, OT/OG/C
School: Nevada | Conference: Mountain West
College Experience: rSr | Age: 22?
Height / Weight: 6-4 / 305 lbs
Projected Draft Status: 2nd Round or 3rd Round
NFL Comparison: Joel Bitonio

College Statistics

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Player Overview

Austin Corbett is from Sparks, Nevada a town just outside of Reno and the University of Nevada and walked on to the program in 2013. Currently, Corbett isn’t getting his due in the conversation about the top offensive line prospects in this draft. He took over for Joel Bitonio and his play has some comparing him to the current Cleveland guard. Corbett has started 48 consecutive games in his career 36 at left tackle 12 at right tackle (junior season) but is projected to move inside at guard at the next level because of his size and length. Corbett had teams talking at the Senior Bowl where he dominated his competition and impressed onlookers. He plays with an aggressive attitude and I love a lineman that blocks to the whistle and finishes his opposition which he does. Corbett is overall technically sound and plays with good leverage, balance, hand placement, and footwork. His punch and arm extension were absolutely devastating to his Mountain West opponents. For teams that may miss out on the first tier of guards in the first 1.5/2 rounds of the draft Corbett is a very nice consolation prize.

Strengths

• Plays with aggression purpose and intent. On every play, he is locked in and is trying to beat the man in front of him. Effort is outstanding, he competes to the whistle and will finish his opponents into the ground.
• Good athleticism for the position. Also, he has versatility having played both tackle spots in college. Also has great anticipation, poise, and instincts he is not fooled by stunts and blitzes.
• Quick out of his stance and punches the hell out of the guy across from him. Hand placement is good as he can control his opponent with relative ease on most snaps. When handling edge rushers he has the athleticism and footwork to mirror quicker guys and wont settle for getting beat.
• Love for the game and position is evident.

Weaknesses

• Overall strength will probably need improvement and he could stand to gain 10 lbs or so.
• Doesn’t consistently handle chained pass rush moves well. His initial hand placement is usually locked on and he struggles to make adjustments there when he meets a more refined rusher.
• Didn’t see much of him in space (lead blocking for screens) or up to the second level.

Let’s see his work:

More Austin Corbett videos

How He Would Fit On The Redskins

Corbett often gets lost in the mix when discussing top guard prospects which is somewhat understandable seeing as he will be a converted tackle and not a pure guard prospect. Still, personally, he is probably the 5th best guard in this draft behind Nelson, Hernandez, Wynn, and Smith. Some are even projecting him to center where his value could be further amplified. Corbett needs to add about 10 lbs to stick in a power scheme but he has the athleticism, attitude and most of the technical skills the Redskins need at the left guard position. He will need to add strength to consistently compete with the strong heavy handed DL in the division (Cox, Harrison, etc) but otherwise should be a plug and play player who progresses as the season goes on. The other thing that is great about Corbett is that his game is well rounded and he is effective in both pass protection and run blocking. The Redskins need to add a strong piece next to Trent Williams to help out the QB and the running backs. They’ll have that opportunity with Corbett on day 2 of the draft.