*Walt taking 2014 and 2018 |
Charlie Campbell, Senior Draft Analyst |
Ereck Flowers Earns Top-20 Grade
Updated Dec. 20, 2014By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.
A year ago in the back half of the 2013 college football season, Auburn left tackle Greg Robinson became a hot draft prospect with a meteoric rise into the top five. Robinson ended up being the second player selected in the 2014 NFL Draft, but for a long time, no one was mentioning him along with higher-profile prospects like Texas A&M’s Jake Matthews and Michigan’s Taylor Lewan. Robinson ended up being picked ahead of both of them.
This year, another tackle prospect is hot with NFL teams but isn’t getting a lot media attention from the media or draft pundits. That player is Miami junior left tackle Ereck Flowers. The 6-foot-6, 324-pounder has an excellent combination of size, strength, quickness and athleticism. He has been a physical run blocker for Duke Johnson while being very reliable as a pass protector. Multiple teams told us that Flowers is grading out as a first-round pick if he enters the 2015 NFL Draft.
Sources with one team say that they have given Flowers a top-20 grade. Other teams rate him in the first round as well. They all expect Flowers to declare for the 2015 NFL Draft.
This season, Flowers has had a number of impressive performances including his game against Nebraska when matched up against edge rusher Randy Gregory. Gregory had a couple of nice plays, but the majority of reps against each other went to Flowers. Any NFL team would like that level of play against a top-10 talent like Gregory. Flowers missed a few games with a torn meniscus, but returned to the field in impressive fashion against Florida State.
Flowers hasn’t received the attention of tackle prospects like Stanford’s Andrus Peat, Texas A&M’s Cedric Ogbuehi, Iowa’s Brandon Scherff or LSU’s La’el Collins. However, like Robinson a year ago, NFL teams feel Flowers could end up getting drafted ahead of many of those more highly touted players.
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