Charles Cross

Pass Protection

He has excellent length and the prototypical size for a Left Tackle, he also deploys that length well, with a clear plan for how he will build his house when he gets to his set-point. He maintains efficient feet, genuinely sliding and maintaining contact with the ground. He has very good athleticism and if challenged by elite speed off the edge or needing to re-direct quickly – he has good processing to identify dangerous rushers – he easily transitions to quicker movement to match angles. He always wins the half-man relationship. He has very good hand placement and timing in vertical sets. He predominantly uses an inside strike which is expertly placed, with plenty of strength, while using his length with his outside hand as his fail-safe. The strength he has in his inside strike and the length he can deploy means against all competition he is not susceptible to swipe moves to disengage.

When he does face an edge-rusher who can match his length and they are able to time up a long-arm move, his outside hand – when he doesn’t have control with the inside because of the long arm – can lose it’s placement and the rusher can keep his hands detached. He rarely faced rushers with an elite rush plan, but he may struggle with this at the next level until he learns to change up his own plan. He has excellent hip mobility to open up in both directions and hip strength to anchor when challenged with speed to power or a bull-rush. He will slow the defender and then has plenty left to stalemate. He always maintains good leverage and brings his feet with his hands to stay leveraged. Confident, he trusts his technique, has great athleticism, so plays with excellent play speed.

Run Blocking

As a gap blocker, he is more of a pusher than someone who deploys explosive strength. On drive blocks he will not position his feet effectively with his attack step and therefore doesn’t fit his hands well – he reaches too much and doesn’t land his hands inside the frame of the defender. He makes some effort to continue to drive his feet on contact but his fitting deficiency means the defender disengages quickly. He has a similar problem on down blocks.

Due to his athleticism this deficiency doesn’t show up as much in zone/space blocking. He can quickly get to the second level and can use his reactive athleticism and explosion to locate more athletic defenders. He has excellent range but his fitting deficiency can show itself when he gets there. On reach blocks, his slide step is good so he will position well as he does in space giving him more chance to win the block. When he does win, he is able to finish with his back-side to the ball carrier. On combination blocks he works quickly to the second level and times his release well. As a back-side cut-off blocker he can win with his athleticism against any alignment from 4i outwards. He has good physical toughness and some nasty – he will finish his man.

SUMMARY
Starting LT with length, good hand placement and timing, particularly with inside hand. Athletically gifted, he moves easily, technique issues can cause lack of power at POA

PRODUCTION
N/A OL
2 Year Starter at LT
INJURY: None

RAVENS FIT
Toughness 3
Intelligence 3
Versatility 2
Grit 3
Scheme 3