Prospect Profile: Christian Haynes, iOL, UConn

Pass Protection

He has almost certainly been taught the hands outside technique. This does make sense for him based on his body type – he’s thick in the pants and has a broad chest. There are reps where you can see him clamp his hands outside and then work to bring his inside hand into the defender’s chest, which always needs to be the case when working with this technique. But it’s not consistent. And when he isn’t able to do this, there are three deficiencies that rear their head and call into question the tactic for him long-term. Firstly, when he doesn’t get a solid clamp with his first strike and he is facing DL with good hand usage, he can struggle to re-fit his hands to stay engaged and control the rep. Secondly, he does live dangerously close to holding; this is natural with this technique but part of making it a success is knowing when to let go. It’s usually when it starts to look like you’re impeding the defender who’s trying to make a move, and there were too many examples on film of him staying clamped on the outside of the shoulder even as the defender was trying to make a move away from him. Finally, and most crucially, defenders with good play strength can work a bull-rush with him and walk him backwards to the QB, without him being able to re-anchor. This is a problem as NFL coaches will ban the hands outside technique when you’re getting bull-rushed.

In 45 and jump sets though, he more often chooses to play with his hands inside and it seems to give him more success. The hands are well placed and timed, and they remain latched through the rep. Given how thick he is, he also bends well and maintains leverage in his pass sets. Does show an effective snatch and trap move and has remarkable upper body strength which he can use to throw defenders around. He could stand to get a little more efficient with his footwork as he can pitch his feet up and down a little. He’s a good processor, sees stunts coming a long way off, can redirect to pick up the defender. He opens his hips easily, his inside hand is well placed, and he can stay latched through the rep.

Run Blocking

As a run blocker he ran mostly in Zone but you can see some Gap runs to help make that projection. On Drive blocks he won’t get too much movement but he can turn his man and wall off the running lane. On Down blocks he doesn’t fit his hands well and it can lead to defenders being able to turn him at the point of attack. As a puller he moves well and can use his hip mobility to turn the corner. He’s at his best when he has an angle on a guy and doesn’t have to travel as far. This is also true for his Space blocking – his success hinges on traffic being present for the defender to navigate, his angle to the defender being an advantageous one and the distance travelled not being too great. In these circumstances he locates, positions, fits and finishes with nasty and competitiveness. But if he’s in a lot of space and the defender has good lateral quickness, he can whiff. At the line of scrimmage on combo blocks he helps seal before releasing to the second level with great timing, and is very good at overtaking blocks and making them functional. As a reach blocker in Zone, he can reach anything directly in front of him but when the defender is outside of him, he’s more effective at opening up the bang read.

SUMMARY
Pass protection has technical deficiencies that need fixing. Has upper body strength and power to deploy. Good Zone blocker especially on combo blocks and reach blocks.

PRODUCTION
SR: 802 snaps at RG
JR: 807 snaps at RG
SO: 814 snaps at RG
FR: 835 snaps at RG
INJURY: None

RAVENS FIT
Toughness 4
Intelligence 4
Versatility 2
Grit 4
Scheme 3