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By Charlie Campbell
Weaknesses:
Summary: Darrisaw broke into the starting lineup in 2018, and over three seasons, he became a good starting left tackle for the Hokies. Darrisaw and his skill set earned the attention of NFL scouts as a potential blind-side protector for the next level, and he has the physical talent to be an early-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
As a pass protector Darrisaw has a lot of qualities that NFL teams look for in starting left tackles. He has good size, length, and athleticism to block on the edge. Darrisaw is quick out his stance to get in position to pick up edge rushers, and his size makes it tough for defenders to get around him. Thanks to Darrisaw’s quality hand placement and length, edge rushers struggle to avoid contact with him, and that sets him up to win a lot of his assignments quickly. Darrisaw is quick and a good athlete on the edge. With his agility and movement skills, Darrisaw has the ability to neutralize speed rushers off the edge.
Darrisaw is solid as a run blocker. He uses his big body to tie up defenders and lean on them. Darrisaw is more of the type to turn defenders and tie them up from getting to the ball-carrier, rather than knocking them off the ball. For the NFL, Darrisaw could be better off in a zone-blocking system rather a power-man rushing attack.
Darrisaw’s pass protection and run blocking need some work for the NFL. He occasionally oversets too far to the inside, which allows defenders to get an angle to the outside. He also can get lazy with his feet and rely on his length too much to tie up defenders rather than sliding his feet and keeping his torso between the rusher and the quarterback. In the ground game, Darrisaw can stand up too high at times and he loses leverage when he does that. He also does not block with a mean streak or sense of urgency in either phase. Darrisaw displays a complacent style of play after getting the initial block and doesn’t finish off defenders. He seems content to ease off on a lot of plays rather than finishing defenders off by burying them or fighting through the whistle.
“[Darrisaw is] highly athletic and plays a premium position to go in the back half of the first round,” said a director of college scouting. “He’s definitely a cruiser who doesn’t play passionately or urgent a lot of the time, which loses me, but the movement and length is there.”
Multiple team sources expect Darrisaw to go late in the first round in the 2021 NFL Draft and think he will go early in the second if he slips out of the opening night.
Player Comparison: Russell Okung. Team sources compared Darrisaw to Okung. It makes sense as they are both athletic, big and agile, but lack physicality and a mean streak.
RELATED LINKS:
2021 NFL Mock Draft: Charlie’s | Walt’s
2021 NFL Draft Prospect Rankings
2021 NFL Draft Scouting Reports
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2025 NFL Mock Draft - Dec. 11
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