There is room for a young offensive tackle
Take a quick look at the offensive line of the Cleveland Browns. Are they in good shape?
During free agency, GM Andrew Berry was able to sign OG Teven Jenkins away from the Chicago Bears because so far, Michael Dunn has not been re-signed.
But what about the tackle position?
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RT Jack Conklin returns for his final contract year. How many times has he been injured and found IR his new home? When he plays, he is one of the best in the league. And it is not like he gets hurt on purpose.
James Hudson signed with the New York Football Giants. Jed Wills is still waiting for a phone call from somebody – anybody.
Dawand Jones should become the new left tackle, but like Conklin, he has been hurt quite a bit as well. Berry did sign veteran Cornelius Lucas in free agency as a backup and insurance policy, but should he draft a young offensive tackle?
You bet.
Jalen Rivers of Miami is ranked #129 in this year’s NFL draft, which is fast approaching. The Browns pick at #104 in Round 4 and no longer have a selection in Round 5.
If Rivers is one thing, it is versatile. At the Senior Bowl, he was plugged in at guard, which he has played before but ended up Coming out of high school, he was the #4 ranked offensive tackle in the State of Florida. You name a major college program, and he had an offer from them. He played in seven games as a freshman and then won the starting left guard spot as a sophomore before an injury shut him down for the season.
The following season, he was selected Second Team All-ACC at left tackle. In his final year, he remained at LT and was named Honorable Mention All-ACC.
At the Senior Bowl this year, Dawgs By Nature’s Barry Shuck was able to talk to several offensive tackle prospects, including Rivers.
OT Jalen Rivers – Miami
6’-5”, 325 pounds
40 time: 5.29
Projected round: 4
Q: How important is your position to remain consistent?
A: Along the way, you want to have consistency and improve on that. It is different if you move inside to play guard because you have help from the center, but if you are a tackle, you are out there all by yourself all game. You have to play consistently and be able to move and dominate your opponent, or he will dominate you.
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
Q: What do you offer an NFL team?
A: A guy that will come in every day and be ready to work, ask questions, take notes, and take the time to get better each day. Learn new techniques on pulling skills. I have dreamed of playing in the NFL since I was seven, so time has gone by super fast.
Q: What type of feedback have you gotten from NFL teams so far?
A: They like how I use my length because I have very long arms. I just continue to try to get quicker. One scout told me I have great skills at sustaining blocks and am able to keep in contact with my defender. I try to get stronger every day because everyone I will go against at the next level is bigger, stronger, faster. I have to be able to cover all those big guys that I will be going against. They have seen my versatility, and some teams may see me strictly as a tackle whereas another team may see me as a swing tackle playing guard. Some teams love that I can snap the ball, too.
Q: Since high school, how many positions along the offensive line have you played?
A: All of them. All five, including center. When you go from right to left you have to flip the field in your head. Your foot placement is the opposite and the hand movement initially is different right off the snap. It does take time to get down.
Jalen Rivers of the University of Miami football team is the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week, as announced Tuesday afternoon by the conference office.
— Caneville (@caneville305) September 6, 2022
Q: How has your game advanced since you arrived as a freshman at Miami?
A: Oh, yeah. Looking back at my freshman year, I played half the season, which is not the norm with an offensive lineman. But I look back and I’m like, dang, I have really improved my game. I look better, I feel better. I credit that by all my teammates along the line who I have been surrounded by and have pushed each other each week, and the coaches who have put a lot of time and effort to take a young man such as myself, and work on him and help him to stay focused on improvement. As well as this community and the fans who have helped me to get to where I am today. I am proud to be a Miami Hurricane.
Q: When a running back has a great game, how does this affect the offensive line?
A: We take a lot of pride in the run game and are excited to block for those types of guys who can bang it upfield. We love our running backs, and we love opening holes so that they can do what they do and get in space and hopefully break tackles. Their success is our success.
Q: How do you prepare mentally for a defensive line that you know is one of the league’s best?
A: That usually comes from a defense that is massive and dynamic. You want the challenge and want the opportunity to show our guys are better than their guys. You prepare for the moment all week and build up the guy next to you. We work and get ready and lift 400-pound sleds. It prepares you to get ready to move that weight we’re going to have to move. It is business in the room. There is a sense of urgency to want to do better with a mindset to want to win. What helped us at Miami was we had one of the best D-Lines in college football, so we got to go up against that, so iron sharpens iron every single day.
Q: How does your team tackle the issue of playing in some really loud college stadiums?
A: My first start was against Bama in New Orleans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and it was the loudest indoor environment I have ever been involved. Tennessee puts you in a loud environment, and a lot of SEC schools like Texas A&M. You can’t lose your focus. We practice with noise and try to prepare every day for it. Florida is another loud stadium. You have to communicate well and not let the noise get to you because you ultimately make mistakes, which can make you lose games just because of noise.
Editor’s note: Second-round DT prospect Darius Alexander vs. Jalen Rivers is at the 1:18 mark
Q: How do you prepare for a game when you know the defender across from you is one of the game’s best and a potential first-round draft pick?
A: I love a challenge and don’t shy away from it. It is important to make sure he doesn’t get you off your pivot and realize that the majority of the game, I will be going one-on-one with him. So, it’s going to be a tough game, but it’s not like I feel like I have to work harder leading up to the game. I just do what I normally do in practice and get a good look at the preparation about my opponent, and rely on the coaches to see if they see something that will help me. Carry it on during game day. I get excited every time I go into the film room because I get to learn.
Q: Your parents pushed academics. How has this molded you as an athlete?
A: You got to be respectful to your parents and your teachers. That’s going to get you far. Stay on your studies and don’t slack off. It is easy to do in college because you don’t have your mom there to make you do your schoolwork but that is your future and gets you to where you need to be. Study and head’s in the books always. My parents wanted me to have fun and play sports, but my focus was my studies. That is a plus in my eyes.
Q: Are you a dancing bear?
A: I have played a lot of sports in my lifetime. I found something that I enjoy and I am good at. But I work at it and do a lot of foot drills to help me have great feet. These guys coming off that corner all have speed. You have to work on your foot skills in order to keep up.
Q: The Browns have a starting right tackle and a starting left tackle. They need a young guy who can play swing tackle right off, and be trained to be the starter eventually. If that is you, what happens if in your rookie year one of these guys goes down and they have to plug you into the starting role?
A: That is where you have to prepare and hope they get you to that point. I have the confidence to start in the first week, but I want to be ready. I have started a lot of games in college and have plenty of experience, so it’s not like I am learning a new position. But at the same time, I am not naïve enough to know that playing in the ACC is not like playing in the NFL. I am going to do whatever I can do; once I make the team, and my name is mentioned to go, I will be ready.