Ben Powers Was Part Of The Best OL In College Football But Is He Right For The Redskins?

Ben Powers, OG
School: Oklahoma | Conference: BIG 12
College Experience: RS Senior | Age: 22?
Height / Weight: 6-4 / 313 lbs
Projected Draft Status: 4th Round
NFL Comparison: Mark Glowinski

College Statistics

N/A

Player Overview

Ben Powers started his football career in junior college after receiving no offers coming out of high school. The Kansas native spent a year at Butter Community College in Kansas before making the leap to the FBS. Powers was rated as a 3-star prospect in 2015 and got offers from Kansas State, TCU, Texas Tech, Illinois and Oklahoma. Powers committed to the Sooners in part because of the overwhelming feeling he got on the sidelines as a spectator when Oklahoma beat TCU back in the 2015 season. Since then Powers has had his name attached to what some consider the best offensive line in college football this season. He was a consensus All-American this past season. In is own words what he does on the football field is motivation enough for him to keep getting better.

“What motivates me is I love taking a grown man’s dreams and crushing it”

While Powers passion and motivation for playing football are unquestionable he will have to answer questions about his functional strength and overall technique during this draft process. I think Powers is a good option for a team looking for that coveted potential starter in the mid rounds if he can continue to improve his strength and fundamentals.

Strengths

• Decent size with good athleticism for the position. Effective as a puller on runs and has finishing ability.
• Has good fundamentals to work with as far as technique. Gets hands under defenders pads. Plays with good arm extension.
• Has the attitude you want out of your offensive linemen. Effort and passion are obvious.
• Plays with good awareness and is always looking for work including helping out his teammates.

Weaknesses

• Strength is clearly lacking. Doesn’t have much pop or power. While his posture, hand placement, arm extension are all fine off the snap he can struggle to maintain control.
• Footwork is slow and puts him behind in both run blocking as pass protection. He relies too much on his upper body and doesn’t keep his legs and feet moving.
• Related to the above leverage and balance is compromised when he faces both power and speed.

Let’s see his work:

Powers is #72 LG

More Ben Powers Videos

How He Would Fit On The Redskins

While there is plenty to like about Powers and his potential I think he is MUCH better suited to play in a zone blocking scheme than in the power scheme the Redskins run. Could the Redskins use more athleticism on the OL? Sure, but I think the big factors in the unit’s shortcoming are much more related to inconsistent technique, leverage, power, and of course injury. Just about all of those things are weaknesses for Powers currently and I think Powers is about ~15 lbs too light and needs some more time in the weight room before I would be comfortable throwing him out into the starting lineup at LG on this team. Currently he just struggles to much to sustain blocks which are critical in a power scheme. I do think he could be a fringe starter day one for a team like the Falcons, Rams, Bears etc. I think there is a real possibility that Powers can go higher than the round I have projected for him with a strong draft process. Unless the Redskins get a new OL coach and move the unit’s scheme I don’t think he is the best fit in Washington.