2020 NFL Draft: Oregon IOL Shane Lemieux scouting report

Scouting former Oregon offensive guard and 2020 NFL Draft prospect, Shane Lemieux.

With Oklahoma’s Creed Humphrey and Tennessee’s Trey Smith returning to school, we need to start digging deeper into the interior offensive line of the 2020 NFL Draft class. Earlier this week, we took a look at former Washington center Nick Harris. Today, we are going to profile another interesting Pac-12 interior offensive lineman, former Oregon left guard Shane Lemieux.

Most in the draft community consider Wisconsin center Tyler Biadasz to be the top interior offensive lineman in the 2020 NFL draft class, but he will have plenty of competition at the top. With Humphrey and Smith not in the class, guys like Harris and Lemieux have a chance to rapidly fly up 2020 NFL draft boards.

Starting as a redshirt freshman in 2016, Lemieux has been the starting left guard for Oregon in every game in the last four years. He has been an incredibly dependable offensive lineman throughout his career who undoubtedly has a bright future at the next level.

Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 316 pounds

Lemieux is a smart and powerful blocker who shows solid quickness off of the snap. In the run game, Lemieux does a great job of quickly finding and taking care of assignments, using his impressive natural upper body strength to consistently dominate any kind of opposing defensive lineman.

Lemieux is incredibly powerful at the point of attack at both the first and second-level. He does a great job of immediately getting the defender off balance and consistently looks for work after he takes care of his immediate responsibility. He is a strong combo blocker who does a great job of securing the first level and getting to the linebackers at the moment.

Athletically, Lemieux does leave some to be desired. He does show solid quickness and balance, but he is never going to blow you away with his speed in space. You can count on Lemieux in quick trap blocks, but he is not a guy who you want pulling around the edge and leading the way.

In pass protection, Lemieux shows fantastic awareness and mental capacity. He does a great job of picking up the blitz and understanding his responsibilities against twists and stunts. The Oregon offensive line had incredible communication this season and Lemieux was a major part of their well-oiled machine up front.

His athletic limitations may get him in trouble against supreme athletes on the inside at the next level, but it was not much of an issue in college. He shows great technique in pass protection, fantastic hand usage and incredible natural anchor. Once Lemieux gets in position to engage the defender, he lets his natural strength take over and the defender is stalled.

There is not much hype surrounding Lemieux, but he is a rock-solid offensive lineman who will immediately be able to come in and play a starting role. He is one of my favorite under-the-radar prospects in the 2020 NFL draft class and would be a fantastic fit for any team that runs the ball using a gap scheme. Lemieux should be considered by those teams as early as the second round.