T.J. Clemmings 2015 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Position

Offensive tackle

School

Pittsburgh

Size

6'5, 309 pounds

Strengths

Clemmings impresses you with excellent athletic ability.  He has rare movement skills for the position and can plant a change direction in a hurry.  He works to keep his feet underneath him when working in pass protection and routinely stays on balance.  Clemmings shows off excellent mirroring ability along with a good kickslide which keeps him out in front of incoming pass rushers.  Once engaged, Clemmings rarely allows any rusher to disengage.  He doesn't have a great punch, but he can absorb contact and anchor.

The clip below shows off how well Clemmings can move.  Keep in mind that this is an offensive tackle prospect here.  He gets outside quickly and effortlessly and gets the block on the smaller, quicker corner.  He stays square and keeps his feet underneath him, getting enough of the corner to take him out of the play.

Clemmings isn't a mauler by any means, but he flashed a mean streak here and there.  Here's one of those examples.  He fires out of his stance on the right side and gets to the second level in a hurry.  He then makes contact with the middle linebacker using those long arms, exploding through him.  After he gets him on the ground, Clemmings finishes him off by clobbering him while he's down.  That's the attitude that NFL teams are going to love.

Here's one more clip just for fun.  Again, watch how quickly he gets out of his stance and into the second level.  You don't see a lot of lineman that can move as effortlessly as Clemmings does.  He looks like a fullback instead of a tackle.

Weaknesses

He's more of a mover than a mauler.  Clemmings has average power at best, but he usually makes up for it by always being in position and ready to take on a defender.  He needs to do a better job of latching on to defenders when run blocking, especially on the second level.  There are some technical things that he can afford to clean up like dropping his head before taking on a block or getting too narrow in his base, but overall Clemmings is a shockingly clean prospect despite the inexperience.

Summary

T.J. Clemmings may have the highest upside of any tackle prospect from this year's class.  He hasn't been playing the position very long, so he's still learning the basic fundamentals.  He comes from a basketball background and actually came to Pitt as a defensive end.  He has the movement skills of a left tackle, which is ultimately where I think he ends up.  Clemmings has shown rapid development over the past two seasons and still has room to grow.

Draft projection

Mid 1st