In week five of the college football season, the Scouting Spotlight is fixated on two high profile senior prospects in Arkansas DE Trey Flowers and Texas A&M LT Cedric Ogbuehi. Ogbuehi wins the talent advantage and has his sights set on being the third Aggies’ blindside protector in as many years to earn a top five overall draft selection. With that being said, Flowers is a very good day two prospect in his own right, and capable of giving Ogbuehi fits with his combination of power and length.
The juxtaposition of two opposing offensive philosophies should make for a great game to watch. On one hand, Texas A&M runs an advanced air raid attack that isolates their athletes in the open field for big play opportunities. Conversely, the Razorbacks mash on opponents with the biggest offensive line in the country and stick with traditional power running concepts. While Texas A&M loves to run swing and bubble screens, stick route variations and four verticals, Arkansas is just going to call an inside zone run, a power-o concept, and mix things up with their patented draw play. Sharpening the focus towards scouting for the NFL Draft, this contrast of speed and power bleeds into the individual battle between Cedric Ogbuehi and Trey Flowers.
By: Alex Brown
Cedric Ogbuehi as a Franchise Left Tackle Prospect
Opening the season as our top rated senior prospect, Cedric Ogbuehi has done nothing but reaffirm that high preseason evaluation. Making his first start at left tackle versus South Carolina, Ogbuehi looked comfortable and confident in executing his assignments. Staying flat and firm with his inside post foot through the kick slide phase, you see ease of movement in pass protection and a quick base setup. His ability to bend at the three critical points (ankles, knees, hips) allows him to adjust and recover without issue.
When scouting offensive tackles, you obviously look for the length, movement skill and power to deal with NFL pass rushers. What is often overlooked is the ability to redirect back inside after kicking wide in pass protection. That’s where Cedric Ogbuehi impresses the most, with the lateral quickness and balance to mirror without compromising his lower half base. His punch consistently lands inside and he has more than enough grip strength to control the point of attack. He moreover, displays the awareness in protection to address late blitzers and move between blocks. In short, he checks off most of the boxes as a franchise left tackle.
The only real concern that popped up when I scouted Ogbuehi over the summer months was his tendency to drop his hands through longer pass sets. His worst game came against Auburn’s violent speed rusher Dee Ford, who stemmed Ogbuehi outside with speed and transitioned back inside with power. This week, although he won’t have to worry about the same first step quicks, Ogbuehi can show whether or not he’s improved at protecting his midsection in pass protection. Additionally, he’ll have his hands full when asked to create movement in the run game or seal the edge. Trey Flowers from Arkansas has limitations, but brings the length-strength traits to force Texas A&M to move the pocket and attack with perimeter runs.
Trey Flowers and a Contrasting Style
On the other side of the line, Trey Flowers isn’t the agile and explosive pass rusher that fans clamor for. But while Flowers is far from Clemson’s Vic Beasley as far as takeoff speed is concerned or able to turn the corner like Kentucky’s Bud Dupree, he has just as good of a chance to be a next level starter for different reasons. He’s a powerful player at the point of attack. He knows how to win the battle with his hands, and sets the edge as well as any senior prospect at his position.
As far as physical body type, Flowers looks like your prototypical strong side DE with broad shoulders, powerful arms and active hands. He shows advanced hand usage to locate break points and disengage on the edge, but athletically leaves a bit to be desired. He doesn’t have the open field speed to win in pursuit and shows tight hips when asked to open up towards the sideline. He is far better suited playing within a phone booth, as his game is predicated on landing the hands first and locking out with power. Flowers needs to throw away the slow developing spin move he’s begun to develop and embrace the natural bully in his skill set.
Against a much more agile, flexible athlete in LT Cedric Ogbuehi, I am interested to see if Flowers can create pressure with his post-move and bull rush off the edge. He’s already faced two up-tempo offenses this season in Auburn and Texas Tech, and both offenses forced him to tire quickly and rotate series. With as much publicity Ogbuehi deservedly gets, Flowers has the stage to ratchet up the pressure with his power advantage and build more draft buzz to his name. I currently view Flowers as a 3rd round type of prospect, but that could certainly be upgraded after this matchup.
What To Expect?
As mentioned in Flowers’ write-up, expect to see the Arkansas senior rotated out every other series (or every two series). Against the speed of Texas A&M’s offense, you have to have fresh legs on the field and the tempo at which they run plays works to limit the amount of in-series substituting.
Also look for Texas A&M to leave Trey Flowers unblocked on jet sweeps and key off him in the read option game. If I’m a coordinator planning against a player like Flowers, I want him hesitating off the snap and moving laterally as much as possible–focus on limiting his straight-line, power movements.
Regarding Cedric Ogbuehi, this will be his first real test of the season. South Carolina lacks a single elite pass rusher, while Lamar, Rice and SMU similarly didn’t have edge players with Trey Flowers’ talent. I need to see Ogbuehi protect his chestplate better and continue to execute on an island in pass protection.
NFL teams will be keeping a close eye on how this matchup unfolds, as should everyone with an interest in the NFL Draft process. The Texas A&M-Arkansas game features both a contrast in offensive schemes, but more importantly two senior prospects with very different skill sets.
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