Iowa OL Brandon Scherff NFL Draft Scouting Report

The Iowa Hawkeyes football program has always been known for having well-coached offensive linemen, thanks to head coach Kirk Ferentz and his expertise in the area.

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With such a long line of success of at least putting guys in the NFL, the Hawkeyes haven’t always lived up to their high expectations coming out of college, though that varies with every school. I can’t help but think of players like Robert Gallery, who was picked second overall by the Oakland Raiders and struggled so much at the NFL level.

As easy as it would be to peg a guy like Iowa left tackle Brandon Scherff as just another in a line of former Hawkeyes who were excellent in college but don’t have a true position in the pros, I think there’s more here than meets the eye.

Scherff is a technician, a guy with so much strength he made national news with his power lifting skills. Iowa breeds the exact type of players you would expect to come out of that area of the country — blue collar, strong, intelligent players that work hard and typically overachieve.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but because there have been some players like Riley Reiff in recent years who had to make (perhaps) unexpected or unwanted position switches, it’s important to look at the tape and find out exactly what a guy like Scherff is, because he’s talented enough to be a top 15 selection in 2015.

Scherff was a 36-game starter for the Hawkeyes in his career, and it’s not too tough to see why so many people are high on him in the pre-draft process. Let’s take a look at him on the hoof.

Having watched every game of Scherff’s career, it’s been fun to watch his development physically and in terms of technique. As I mentioned earlier, Iowa players are usually always well-coached along the offensive line in a variety of techniques, whether it’s power, zone, or gap. Iowa runs a pretty basic pro-style offense, but the linemen have to know how to do it all.

So what is Scherff? Here’s what I see.

Pass Protection

Scherff plays left tackle for the Hawkeyes, but that’s probably not his best position transitioning to the pros. While he uses his hands really well and overall does a good job with hand placement, he doesn’t have the ability to mirror athletic rushers consistently. And while he has good quickness, he isn’t always light on his feet in pass protection.

For this reason, I feel like Scherff is better suited as a guard at the next level, but we’ll get more into that later on…

Scherff otherwise does a solid job in pass protection. When he gets set in his stance and engages with defensive linemen, it’s game over. He is so strong, so good with his hands, that he simply overpowers most defensive players who can’t just fly around him.

Run Blocking

This is where Scherff excels. He is a phenomenal athlete with outstanding functional strength, and he plays with a nasty streak. Scherff can explode into the second level of defenders almost looking like he’s a tight end that’s going to run a route. There are times when I notice that he is almost too out of control with it, and he can end up not even putting a body on someone, but that happens less often than you really need to care and/or worry about.

Scherff’s ability to engage with his arms fully extended and drive defenders back is one of his most dominant traits. He explodes out of his stance and has the athletic ability to pull, play in a zone scheme, or do whatever is needed in that regard.

Overall

The versatility of Scherff is what teams will value the most in addition to his measurables and athletic ability. He can play guard or tackle though my opinion is that he will be a Pro Bowl caliber guard at the next level, so hopefully some NFL team realizes that early on — or already has.

He has some flaws in pass protection that would be amplified at tackle but probably diminished playing inside. A mauler in the run game, he can move and play in a zone. He’s a smart player with great functional strength who is well-coached, even more coachable, and a hard worker off the field.

I would consider Scherff the top offensive guard in this year’s class, and one of the best tackles but perhaps better slotted at right tackle.

NFL Fits

Any team who needs a good offensive lineman. A bit sarcastic, but he really does fit with any scheme and whatever team drafts him is going to be able to use him.

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