Another #1 controversy??? … Its hard not to imagine that we’re not going to be hearing a lot about whether ‘Aidan Hutchinson or Kayvon Thibodeaux is the top DE prospect in this year’s draft’ over the next few months. In fact, we’ll probably be talking a lot about whether Hutchinson or Thibodeaux is the best prospect in this year’s draft period! And they’ll certainly be plenty of chatter as to who the top QB is this year: Kenny Pickett, Matt Corral or Malik Willis. At the same time, we are also starting to pick up some whispers that Alabama’s Evan Neal need not necessarily be the top OT candidate this year; that more than one team out there has NC State’s Ickey Ekwonu as the #1 offensive lineman on their board. We are also picking some hints that a number of teams at the very top of this year’s selection order actually like the LTs better than the DEs. Indeed, we have been wondering ourselves of late whether a team like Jacksonville, which has the #1 pick overall, might seriously consider taking Neal or Ekwonu with the top pick to provide QB Trevor Lawrence with a personal protector. Whatever, we’ll find out for sure in 98 days.
There is, in fact, a rather interesting juxtaposition regarding the whole debate and that is, that at least on paper, neither Neal nor Ekwonu are really prototype LT prospects. The 6-7, 350-pound Neal, for example, has the requisite size and length, along with uncommon athleticism for someone that size, but he’s also projected to run the 40 in the 5.40 range which is more what one generally thinks of for a RT. For his part, Ekwonu has elite athletic skills, not to mention a very nasty disposition on the field, but may not even be 6-4, which ahs more than one team thinking that he’d perhaps be a better OG than tackle. It is also somewhat ironic that both Neal and Ekwonu made their reputations as dominating drive blockers who take no prisoners. Both, though, have struggled at times handling quality speed rushers, the kind they’d be facing every week at the next level.
For now, here are our profiles of both Neal and Ekwonu, along with Mississippi’s State’s Charles Cross, the other OT thought to have top ten potential for this year’s draft.
