2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Joe Alt

Prospect Summary:

Alt follows in a line of quality NFL offensive line prospects out of Notre Dame like Mike McGlinchey, Ronnie Stanley, Quenton Nelson and the Martin brothers – Zach and Nick. After some early action as a backup, Alt became a starter five games into his freshman season and started the final eight games in 2021. In 2022, Alt started all 13 games at left tackle for the Fighting Irish and was a steady presence at the point of attack. He remained a good starter for them in 2023.

In the ground game, Alt is a contributor who uses his size to tie up defenders. He is not a physical force who will overpower and overwhelm defenders, knocking them backward or rolling them around the field. Alt is more of a blocker who ties up defenders, stalls them, turns them, and manipulates them out of the play. With Alt’s mass and length, defenders can struggle to get free of Alt to get in on a tackle.

For pass blocking, Alt has a natural advantage in that he is so huge that defenders have trouble getting around him. His mass and length forces them to take extra steps to get past Alt, and that gives his quarterback a split second, which can be valuable. Alt shows good awareness, intelligence, and developed technique. His technique can be seen with how he both uses and places his hands well. Alt’s hands, technique, and length make him very good at sustaining blocks. Aided by his length and mass, he ties up defenders and keeps them from shedding blocks easily.

Alt possesses adequate feet and quickness, but he is not an all-world athlete with excellent speed on the edge. Given his size, he is not a smooth mover who can slide with his feet and glide easily to cut off speed rushers, like say Ronnie Stanley. Alt gets into trouble when he stands up too high and lets defenders get into his chest.

Sources from around the NFL said Alt has some stiffness and is not a great bender. Those things lead to some problems with his anchor, which could be seen against Ohio State when Tyleik Williams gave Alt some problems. Teams have not graded Alt as high as Penei Sewell coming out of Oregon in 2021, but they view Alt as a very safe pick to be a good pro starter.

For the NFL, Alt should has Pro Bowl potential, and he should go in the top half of the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.