If The Redskins Draft Will Hernandez Hogs 2.0 Will Be All But Set

Will Hernandez, OG
School: UTEP | Conference: CUSA
College Experience: rSr | Age: 22
Height / Weight: 6-2 / 327 lbs
Projected Draft Status: 2nd Round
NFL Comparison: Laken Tomlinson

College Statistics

N/A

Player Overview

Will Hernandez is from Las Vegas, Nevada and only got a single offer to play football in college from The University of Texas-El Paso. He went from unknown to dominating his competition in the CUSA. UTEP is a terrible football program and they went 0-12 last season. Hernandez undoubtedly was the bright spot for that program. Now he is going to be a high draft pick and there has even been talk of him going in the 1st round. I wouldn't be surprised if that happened as Hernandez's play reminds me of the Redskins own Brandon Scherff. He is a big guard and plays with a phone booth/mauler type mentality. He easily controlled his opponents as he got under their pads and is stout in pass protection and he clears lanes on the run. He moves pretty well for his size but if I had to really zone in on his weaknesses it would be his quickness and pad level. He got away with some technical deficiencies in those areas in the CUSA but won't in the NFL. Despite those issues, Hernandez is technically sound and skill enough to be a day 1 starter at guard and he could stick around the league for a long time.

Strengths

• Built like a tank with excellent size, strength, and decent athleticism for the position. Plus he wears a backplate.
• Gets into defender’s chests and under their pads to maintain control. He is like a brick wall at times in pass protection yielding no ground. He plays with good arm extension and has a powerful punch. He has really good awareness and will help out his teammates picking up blitzes. He looks for guys to block if his original assignment isn't there. He has a nice smooth shuffle as well which helps in his recovery against faster opponents.
• Plays with as good a base as any lineman in this class and has excellent balance. On the run, he zeros in on his target(s) and wipes them out with power.
• Plays with the demeanor you want out of your lineman.

Weaknesses

• Arms are on the shorter side and opponents with speed and length can give him trouble.
• Has a bit of a hitch when he goes out to pull on a run. I think that should be cleaned up to improve quickness and efficiency.
• Sort of pops straight up once engaged. Quicker opponents who play lower could take advantage of him especially on pulling runs.

Let’s see his work:

More Will Hernandez videos

How He Would Fit On The Redskins

I like 2 or 3 more guard prospects better than I like Hernandez but he is an excellent player. The top of the draft is loaded with OG talent and I think Hernandez would fit very well into the Redskins power run scheme. He is a physical, tough, and effective player that if selected by the Redskins would fit the mold of the Hogs 2.0. As I said in the intro Hernandez reminds me so much of Brandon Scherff in his style of play. As I see it there is no competition for the LG spot on the Redskins because it is currently occupied by backup level talent at best. Hernandez can come in on day 1 and provide reliable pass protection and effective run blocks for the Skins which would help the offense greatly. He has his technical issues to clean up but they are relatively minor compared to the strengths in his game. I’m not sure if he makes it to the Redskins 2nd round pick but if he is there he should be on the shortlist of players the Redskins are considering.