2021 NFL Draft rankings: Penei Sewell leads strong offensive tackle group

10. Walker Little, Stanford
6-foot-7 309 pounds
2021 NFL Draft grade: Third round

Stanford’s Walker Little’s career got off to a good start as he was named an ESPN Freshman All-American in 2017. He backed that up with another strong season in 2018 when he started all 12 games for the Cardinals and protected the blindside of K.J. Costello, who finished with second-most passing yards in a season in school history that season. Unfortunately, things went downhill from there as Little suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2019 and sat out the 2020 season.

As a prospect Little has some tools that people project him as a top-10 pick early in his career. One of these traits is his quick feet. He does an excellent job of sliding in pass protection and shows the raw tools to play left tackle in the NFL. He also has impressive length coming in at 6-foot-7 and has the long arms to go with this height. One more positive with him is the strength he shows in pass protection as he is able to control the defender at the point of attack.

While Little shows impressive strength in pass protection that is not the case as a run blocker. However, this is more due to technique than functional strength. He tends to stop his feet on contact which causes him issues when it comes to staying on his blocks. He also spends more time on the ground than I would like,  which is partly due to his poor footwork. The biggest issue with him though as that he has only played one game in the last two years.

In terms of how Little projects to the NFL, he has the tools to eventually develop into a starting left tackle. In order to do that though he is going to have to improve as a run blocker. If his knee checks out ok medically, I would have no problem spending a third-round pick on this developmental left tackle.