Antonio Garcia, OT, Troy: 2017 NFL Draft Scouting Report
Antonio Garcia doesn’t need much of an introduction. He made sure that there would be no Trojan Horse for the Trojan offense on the gridiron.
It’s not every day that someone from Troy’s football program climbs up draft boards. Only a handful of names who left Troy for the NFL have achieved success in recent years and all of them have come on the defensive side of the ball.
Antonio Garcia is the first offensive player to come out from this university that is anything other than a football powerhouse. Let’s see what has scouts going to a part of Alabama other than Tuscaloosa…
Measurables
Height: 6’6″
Arm Length: 33 3/8″
Weight: 302 lbs
Hands: 9 7/8″
Strengths
A former basketball player, Garcia has impressive athleticism and remarkable lateral agility for someone weighing north of three-hundred pounds. As a result, he can shuffle his feet and match the movements of edge rushers. He can hold the pocket for the quarterback and open lanes for runners.
His agile feet give him the ability to redirect very quickly. His hips are loose and let him stop and rotate on a dime. The man can move to make an inside block as well as hold down the fort on the edge.
His agility and footwork aren’t all he has to offer. The former Trojan ran his 40-yard dash in 5.15 seconds and hoisted the bench press 24 times. He registered a vertical jump of 31 inches, good for second best amongst offensive lineman.
The man can flat out move for someone his size, so much so that he have more athletic traits than any other offensive lineman in this draft class.
Garcia is also quite persistent. If he gets nudged off his assignment early on, he somehow finds a way to battle back and finish off his blocks.
Weaknesses
He spent his college playing days hovering under three-hundred pounds. Although he recently bulked up, his playing weight is certainly a question mark for the NFL. He won’t last long if he cannot remain north of three-hundred pounds.
Garcia’s lower body is not as strong as it needs to be. On top of that, he keeps his pads high and his center of gravity is drastically off center. An NFL bull rush that meets him up high can and will knock him off balance.
His punch is usually offline and isn’t all that forceful. The inaccuracy leaves his midsection vulnerable. On top of all that, when he misses his punch, he has a tendency to resort to holding.
Final Thoughts
You can’t ask for much more in an offensive lineman in terms of athletic ability. He’s fast, agile and has the determination to recover and finish off blocks that he originally fails to complete.
However, he needs to keep weight on his frame, especially on his lower body. He has to work on lining up his initial punch and sticking some force behind it. If he misses, he also can’t just resort to holding the defender. His athletic gifts will have him going early on but his weaknesses hold him back. He’ll likely be selected at some point in the third round.