PicoBlog

The Washington Commanders drafted TCU offensive lineman Brandon Coleman in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Coleman played mainly left tackle in college but did move around some, playing left guard at times during his final season at TCU. That led to many draft analysts debating if his best position in the NFL would be tackle or guard. After the draft, general manager Adam Peters was quick to explain the Commanders see Coleman as a tackle at the next level, but having that flexibility to slide inside to guard was a nice fallback option. The Commanders main need is at left tackle, so can Coleman hold up at tackle in the NFL and how soon will he be ready to start? Let’s take a closer look. 

Coleman stands at 6’4½”, 313 pounds with 34⅝” arms. That’s pretty good size for an NFL left tackle, not elite but certainly above any thresholds that teams have for tackles. Typically when you see questions about a college tackle having to switch to guard in the NFL, it’s down to size or arm length, but those aren’t issues for Coleman. The next question after size and arm length is pass protection. For Coleman, this is his biggest strength. He’s a good pass protector with quick enough feet and heavy hands. Those hands are very disruptive to opposing rushers.

In this clip, you’ll see a few examples of Coleman’s biggest strength as a pass protector. He has heavy hands and great timing with his punches which enable him to stunt rushers as they look to work the edge. Coleman does a great job varying exactly when he throws his hands, but he always picks the right moment and backs up the timing with a strong punch. You can see how he’s able to land his punches instead of having the rusher knock his hands down, and how powerful his punches are. On all four of these plays, he punches so hard he knocks the defender off their rush path and forces them wider, making them abandon their first rush and work to a secondary rush plan. 

The other part of those heavy hands and good punch timing is the placement of those hands. It’s all well and good being able to land heavy punches but if they’re placed in the wrong spot they won’t be effective. Coleman has a knack for getting his hands in the right spot and when he does, he shows he can latch on and negate a rusher. 

This time, we can see how well Coleman places his outside hand. Outside hand placement is key for offensive tackles in pass protection and more often than not, Coleman lands his well. You can see here how he tends to land his outside hand on the outside pec or even the outside shoulder of the rusher. Getting that placement is key because it helps Coleman cut off the path to the edge for the rusher. If his hand is too far inside, then the edge is still an option and he would be vulnerable to hand swipes that can knock his hands away. But landing that outside hand in the right spot and then showing he can latch on with a strong grip makes it very hard for rushers to beat him outside. 

While Coleman’s hands are generally his best asset, he will need to clean some things up in the NFL if he is to survive at tackle. He has a tendency to shoot both hands at the same time, which can lead to a more powerful punch if it lands, but it also brings risks. If a defender uses a swipe or club move, they can potentially knock down both hands at the same time, leaving Coleman with no hands to recover.

ncG1vNJzZmilkae4o8HLpaaco16owqO%2F05qapGaTpLpwvI6wn5qsXaS5bq7RmqWdp55isLC4xKaYp2WSp7avs9Jmq6g%3D