Name: Jonathan McLaughlin
School: Virginia Tech
Position fit: Tackle
Stats to know: Surrendered 26 pressures in 2015, but cut it down to only 13 in 2016.
What he does best:
- Does a nice job on double-team blocks.
- Drops his hips well against the bull rush. Gave up a bull rush pressure every 257.5 dropbacks, ninth-best in the class.
- Has versatility to potentially play guard.
- Experienced player who had consistent performances.
- Ranked 14th among draft class tackles in run-block percentage (93.8 percent). Didn’t “lose” many blocks despite his low percentage of positively graded blocks in the run game.
Biggest concern:
- Can get overextended at the second level, missing the block on linebackers from time to time.
- Moves just OK in space.
- OL-friendly scheme at Virginia Tech. What is his ceiling in different offense?
- Struggled in pass protection in “must-pass” situations.
- Low percentage of positively graded blocks. Ranked 75th in the draft class.
- Average grades and had some below-average run-blocking performances.
Bottom line: McLaughlin may fit better at guard than tackle at the next level. While he played a lot of games at Virginia Tech and shows good power on some double team blocks there are some question marks in McLaughlin’s game. Most notably he loses blocks when he gets overextended with his upper body. McLaughlin was not a liability at tackle but he does not “wow” on tape and struggled from time to time in his run blocking. McLaughlin’s best fit may be moving to guard and developing his game. McLaughlin looks like a development prospect at the next level.
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