FanPost

Beware of Riptides: The Sean Rhyan draft profile I didn't intend to do

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Surf's Up

Similar to Chad Muma, I didn't intend to do a fanpost about UCLA offensive tackle, Sean Rhyan, but when Lance Zierlein only ranked him 120th, which would be a 4th round pick, I decided it would be worthwhile. On 4 of the 10 draft boards I looked at, Rhyan is ranked as a 2nd round prospect. On 8 out of 10 boards, he should be gone before the Rams are ever on the clock. Rhyan has been the starting left tackle for UCLA the last 3 seasons, beginning with his true freshman season, but he's projected to slide inside and play guard in the NFL or maybe flip to the other side and become a right tackle.

I'm not a fan of the sunny, beach themed Rams rebranding, but if there's a draft prospect who would fit in with that vibe, it would be Rhyan. An Orange County native from Ladera Ranch, California, Ryan has been described as a laid back, chill dude, who grew up surfing and enjoys going to farmer's markets. He looks a little like actor Jason Momoa, who played the title character in the Aquaman movie. He also played Duncan Idaho in the movie Dune. Duncan Idaho sounds like the name of the next QB drafted after Joe Montana, who threw passes to a receiver named Bobby Quinoa. I don't know if Rhyan can talk to fish, but he did study geography and environmental studies at UCLA, so I wouldn't rule it out. Will Rhyan get to wear an ugly Rams jersey?

Background

6'4 5/8'' tall, 321 pounds, 32 3/8'' arms, 11 1/8'' hands, 79 1/4'' wingspan

5.25 sec (40 time), 1.80 sec (10 yard split), 33.5'' vert jump, 9'2'' broad, 4.81 sec (shuttle), 7.55 sec (3 cone)

Rhyan has enormous hands. They are so massive that in pictures it looks like they belong on a comic book character. His hands are over 2.5 inches bigger than Kenny Pickett's.

Rhyan had the best vertical jump at the Combine among OL. Zach Tom was 2nd at 33 inches. Rhyan's vert was way better than players such as Kenyon Green (26'') and Dylan Parham (26.5'').

Early entrant. True Junior. Dad was a moto-cross pro. Grew up playing wide variety of different sports and physical activities, including gymnastics, baseball, judo and rugby. Was great at shot put in high school. 4 star recruit. Enrolled early at UCLA in summer of 2019. 3 year starter since true freshman season. Had 83.9 PFF grade last season, considered to be his best year. 31 career games started. I'm not aware of any major injuries at UCLA. He broke his wrist in high school.

CBSSports 87th overall (3rd rd)

Drafttek 92nd overall (3rd)

ESPN 94th overall (3rd)

PFF 96th overall (3rd)

Tony Pauline 186th overall (6th rd)

Ian Cummings 56th overall (2nd rd)

Oliver Hodgkinson 56th overall (2nd)

Shane Hallam 59th overall (2nd)

Brian Bosarge 61st overall (2nd)

Lance Zierlein 120th overall (4th rd). 6.14 draft grade. LZ likes his size, technique and thinks he projects as a guard in the pros. Says he has too many false starts, oversets and has below average recovery ability.

Strengths

Great hair. Never not working.

Technical. Displays understanding of proper fundamentals for settling bull rushes, loading on run blocks, plays with knee bend, proper angles as climber and disciplined footwork in length of steps.

Maintains wide stance in pass protection. Tries to move feet to sustain blocks. Patient in pass set.

Good reactions at LOS right after snap to cut off slanting DL and minimize penetration into backfield.

Adequate mobility and athleticism to be able to execute zone blocks.

Smooth movement climbing to 2nd level. Good body control for his size.

NFL size. Has arms that are too short to play tackle, but he has a thick lower body that gives him a naturally low center of gravity, is tall and has huge hands. Looks like an NFL guard.

Used on right side in some unbalanced formations.

In a draft class filled with a number of older prospects, he's an early entrant. Very experienced starter who has mostly clean injury history.

Good intangibles. Humble, easygoing personality. Unlikely to be trouble maker or be an unreliable character. Ascending young player who potentially could get better if he gets physically stronger and becomes more consistent.

Weaknesses

Below average aggression and physicality. Reactionary on field, doesn't take the fight to the opponent.

Stacked and shed regularly blocking at the edge on runs. Underpowered, thrown off balance by stronger defenders. Unable to generate power on run blocks to move defenders on regular basis.

Average anchor. Gets jolted backwards at times. OLB knocked him off his feet and onto his heels one play.

Not a powerful drive blocker in short yardage situations. Not a mauler. Limited effective range and burst on zone run blocks.

Repeatedly beaten by inside moves. Lunges, ducks head and whiffs on some punches in pass pro and gets roasted. Burrowed head into OLB in pass pro trying to sustain and beaten badly by swim move to inside.

Limited recovery ability when he's in trouble.

Has both slow hands and slow feet. Average torque. Struggles to remain centered on run blocks.

Average upper body strength. Lacks core power. Lacks functional length.

Not good as lead blocker in space. Lacks speed on long pulls and screen passes.

Below average ability to redirect in space to mirror quick defenders. Lunges or misses at 2nd level against smaller defenders.

Poor shuttle time to be starting interior OL.

Average awareness against twist. Multiple false start penalties. Confused and distracted by slot CB blitz, causing him to not block the LB. Failed to pick up basic LB blitz as line slid in other direction. Not enough depth some plays as pass block helper.

A run blocking scheme "tweener". He's not fast enough to be a good gap scheme guard, not strong enough to be a power scheme blocker and not quick and agile enough to be a good zone scheme blocker. Maybe he could be adequate in any scheme, but I don't think he'd be great in any single scheme either.

I think he's a low ceiling prospect.

Pro Comparison and Grade

Jamil Demby (6th round 2018 Rams, Maine), 6th round grade.

Of all the draft boards, the only one that I think has Sean Rhyan properly ranked is Tony Pauline's board. I see Ryan as a versatile backup at the NFL level, who will primarily play in the interior, but in an emergency injury situation could be asked to play tackle.

To become a starter, I believe Rhyan's best shot would be to move to the center position. Ryan Jensen was a 6th round pick, so with some development, maybe Rhyan could emerge as the next Jensen. By playing in the middle, I think some of his pass blocking issues won't be exposed as much compared to as a LT and his lack of play strength won't be as much of a limitation compared to playing G in the NFL.

I have Rhyan as better graded prospect than both Tremayne Anchrum and Alaric Jackson. The Rams have a bunch of former UDFAs in Brewer, Shelton and Kolone. So, even though I don't see Rhyan as a Day 2 prospect, he still conceivably could beat out a bunch of those other guys and earn a game day active roster spot with the Rams as one of the top backup linemen.

The downside is I don't project Rhyan to be an eventual starter in the NFL. Demby had a 4th round grade from LZ and the scouting report said he was going to be a good pass blocker, but not as good of a run blocker. LZ thought he would be an eventual NFL starter. Demby is currently a free agent.

I don't understand why so many draft boards have Rhyan graded as a 2nd round prospect. There are other OL prospects who are typically lower ranked who I see as being better players with better upside.

If Sean Rhyan were still on the board for the Rams late in the 3rd round, not only do I think that the Rams should pass on him at that slot, I wouldn't circle back to him until well into Day 3 of the draft.