Thursday, March 26, 2009

Draft Prospect Spotlight: OT Eugene Monroe

Virginia OT Eugene Monroe 
Height: 6-6, Weight: 315

Strengths: Possesses the best combination of pass blocking and run blocking of any prospect in the 2009 NFL Draft…played at Virginia, which has been increasingly effective at producing top level NFL talent on both the offensive and defensive lines…is such a terrific talent that he kept top 2008 NFL prospect Branden Albert at offensive guard…at 6’6 315, has prototypical size for a NFL left tackle…dominated at times throughout his collegiate career, but perhaps even more importantly, he never seemed to battle inconsistencies that many offensive tackle prospects do…a very low bust factor, and you know when your drafting a prospect the likes of Eugene Monroe, he will contribute from day one…

Weaknesses: There is not a specific element of his’s game that one can point to as being superstar level quality…very good prospect, but can he be great?…low bust factor yes, but also may not possess the potential and ceiling that a few other offensive tackle prospects in the 2009 draft class do…one would have thought that with top-tier NFL talent the likes of Monroe and Albert playing side by side the Virginia rushing attack would have been more dominant…would be well served to add some more muscle to his wiry 6’6 frame… would like to see him play with a bit more of nasty streak…

Overall: There is not much to dislike in regards to the draft prospects of Eugene Monroe. Eugene Monroe is another safe pick and there is little to no chance that a team in the top ten do not select him to protect the blindside of their quarterback. Eugene Monroe has long arms, uses his hands very effectively, and is arguably a better pass blocker than Andre Smith. Eugene Monroe will continue to progress and develop, and although he may not have Pro Bowl level potential like some, he will start and contribute immediately.


My Opinion: Before, I go over my opinions about the prospect in particu;ar, I just wanna say that the Rams are clearly gonna draft an offensive tackle to address the loss of Orlando Pace. the idea of moving Alex Barron to left tackle is a bit unclear because Barron works better at RT. 

Regarding Eugene Monroe, the possibility of him being drafted at #2 overall is close to none unless Detroit drafts him beforehand. Monroe has a similar report to his fellow Virginia alumnus DE Chris Long (which the Rams drafted in 2008) on which he has the best overall skillset but little room to improve (so as they thought).

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