2022 Senior Bowl OL Ranked & Tiered 1-24

After studying, grading, and writing full scouting reports on 58 offensive line prospects in the 2021 draft class, I’m back with Bleacher Report for my second year to break down and analyze the 2022 class. Last season we weren’t assembled as a team until December with a starting date in January. That resulted in us having to cram in a lot of work in a short period of time. This year, we began in September with those extra few months allowing us to really dig into the crop of prospects with plenty of time at our disposal.

Since September 1, I have studied and put initial grades on 45+ OL prospects in the 2022 class with reports on almost 30 of them submitted, including every lineman with an accepted invite to the Senior Bowl.

Each report is put together from studying coaches film, with the goal of at least five games watched for every prospect. A select few have four games watched, but the end goal is to have a minimum of five tapes studied to form my viewpoint of the player. Fortunately, my access to film has expanded as of late so I feel that I can really do justice for the players by familiarizing myself with them in a wide variety of situations and against a range of different opponents. The idea is to increase my exposure as much as possible to have a better grasp on who they are as players. The more exposure the better. I want to study prospects in as many scenarios as possible (various fronts, alignments, lineup changes, being dinged up, adverse weather, home/away, etc.).

The reports already submitted will be tinkered with as the all-star game circuit, combine, and pro days get here. As it stands just a couple of days before I get on a plane to Mobile, here’s how I see the group of Senior Bowl OL heading into the week.

Tier 1 - Immediate starters and potential impact players (Round 1-Round 2 grades)

1. Zion Johnson - G - Boston College

Background: Johnson is my highest rated offensive lineman heading into the week. He is a former 0-star recruit that transferred to Boston College after spending two years at Davidson college in a triple-option offense. Johnson finished his career at BC with 30 starts (18 at LG, 12 at LT).

Strengths: Play strength, mobility, power, finishing, technical refinement, anchor

Weaknesses: Lateral quickness and change of direction

2021 Games studied: Missouri, Temple, Clemson, Virginia Tech (LT), N.C. State, FSU

Best tape: Clemson

Johnson stands out as a very good run-blocker on every tape I studied, and that continued here. His play strength to hit, lift, and drive on zone, duo and as a puller stood out in this game. The most impressive part about this tape however came in pass protection. Johnson showed the mental processing to pick up a blitz across his face when engaged with another defender, feed the 3-technique over to the tackle on a T-E stunt, work off multiple threats while maintaining his levels, and anchored on command to stone a crashing end on an E-T stunt (play 73).

Overview: Johnson has very good play strength with a stout, compact build and a rugged, physical playing style. He shows excellent mobility in his lower half and plays with a wide, firm base and tight elbows to anchor on command and get inside defenders to maximize his power output through contact. Once latched, he locks in to sustain and steer consistently while being an outstanding finisher. Johnson is a well-rounded player with the physical traits, technical refinement, and experience to be a plug and play starter in the NFL.

Grade: Year 1 starter

2. Bernard Raimann - OT - Central Michigan

Background: Raimann was born and raised in Vienna, Austria, before becoming a foreign exchange student his junior year of high school (2016) in Michigan. This led to a 2-star rating as a tight end recruit and an offer from Central Michigan. Raimann returned to Austria for his senior year of high school, served six months in the military, and didn't play football in 2017. He returned to the U.S. in 2018 and went on to play two seasons (11 starts) at tight end for Central Michigan before switching to the offensive line at 245 pounds. He finished his career with 18 starts all at left tackle.

Strengths: Contact balance, body control, athletic ability, use of hands, finishing

Weaknesses: Protecting the corner against wide rush angles, average to below-average arm length, weight/girth/sand in his lower half

2021 Games studied: LSU, Missouri, Western Michigan, Toledo, Miami of Ohio

Best tape: Western Michigan

Raimann showed some very impressive things on tape early in the season against the best teams he faced in Missouri and LSU. While those are must-watches for his evaluation, my favorite matchup came against Western Michigan and 2021 MAC defensive player of the year Ali Fayad. Raimann showed exactly what makes him such a high-quality prospect in this game, shutting Fayad down in pass protection with outstanding use of hands and body control that he also displayed in the run game. One standout block came on the 27th play of the game when Raimann lined up and finished a cornerback off of a combo block six yards past the point of attack into the goalpost of the end zone. Raimann’s ability to sustain, steer, and finish in the run game on all three levels was impressive all year and was illustrated nicely on this play.

Overview: Raimann’s profile is one of the most fascinating in the entire draft class with several layers that make his evaluation a bit more complex than most. He will be one of the older rookies in the class (turns 25-years old in September), but he has played only 18 games on the offensive line in his life, yet is extremely polished in how well he negotiates leverage, sustains and finishes blocks. Raimann has very good athletic ability, body control, and balance as well. Right now, I have him in the same tier as Trevor Penning and Daniel Faalele at tackle, with Raimann at the top of the group. Penning and Faalele are longer and more powerful players, but they don’t possess the same level of refinement in terms of hand usage and leverage as Raimann. Seeing how these three players compare to one another in practice during the week physically will be a key component of my final grade and evaluation on each.

Grade: Year 1 starter

3. Trevor Penning - OT - Northern Iowa

Background: Penning is a three-year starter with starts at both tackle spots and guard. He has put on close to 100 pounds since arriving on campus as a lightly recruited 235-pound tight end. Penning is training with Duke Manyweather in Dallas, Texas to prepare for the draft.

Strengths: Ideal size/frame/length, light feet, power, bully mentality

Weaknesses: Pad level, opening his hips too early against wide rush angles/creating two-way go’s for rushers, anchoring consistently, strike timing

2021 Games studied: Iowa State, North Dakota State, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Missouri State, Eastern Washington

Best tape: Iowa State

This was the best overall competition that Penning saw in 2021. He showed a little bit of everything that makes him a quality prospect, including flash and snatch/trap techniques in pass protection, generating torque on command in the run game, and the nasty demeanor that results in knockdowns galore.