Hayden Conner NFL Draft 2025: Scouting Report for Texas IOL

HEIGHT: 6'6"

WEIGHT: 314

HAND: 9⅝"

ARM: 33¼"

WINGSPAN: 79⅝"

40-YARD DASH: N/A

3-CONE: 7.9

SHUTTLE: 4.88

VERTICAL: N/A

BROAD: N/A

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POSITIVES

— Wide-bodied, sturdy build with good play strength and heavy hands.

— Skilled, efficient pass protector who plays long with stiff, independent strikes and a flat-back posture to keep his head out of the block.

— Provides a firm presence with a sturdy anchor against the bull rush and penetrators.

— Firmly covers up targets on angle-drive, cut-offs and combination blocks with the strength and leverage to torque, widen and wall off defenders.

— Effective puller who can kick out and wall off targets on short and long pulls.

— Got the better of Michigan DT Mason Graham in pass protection during their 2024 matchup.

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NEGATIVES

— Tall, upright playing style with below-average athletic ability.

— Gets caught with an overly wide base and his eyes down against moves across his face, sapping his reactionary quickness and recovery skills.

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NOTES

— Born Apr. 26, 2002

— 3-star recruit from the 2021 class, per 247Sports

— 43 career starts at left guard

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OVERALL

Hayden Conner is a three-year starter at left guard, including 16 starts during the 2024 season inside Texas' balanced (52-48 run-pass split), multiple run scheme with a high rate of quick-game, RPOs and motion. Conner has a wide-bodied, sturdy build with good play strength and adequate athletic ability.

Conner is a solid overall run-blocker who uses good mass and play strength to arrive on contact firm to cover up targets on angle-drive, cut-off, overtakes and pulls to create rush lanes off of his backside. Conner does a nice job using his backside hand and torque to clean up reads for the runner, and he finishes with good strain and effort. He has an upright playing style with a wide base that results in middling lateral quickness and recovery skills against moves across his face.

Conner is an efficient, skilled pass protector who understands how to weaponize his length and play long using potent independent strikes with a sturdy, firm anchor to clench, anchor and end reps quickly once latched. He will also thump and dent adjacent rushers when uncovered to clear the pocket.

Conner's upright style and mediocre athletic ability shrink his margin for error and leave him scrambling to recover out of compromising positions. With that said, he does an impressive job minimizing those situations due to his positioning, timing and technique.

Overall, Conner has a thick, wide-bodied frame with mediocre athletic ability. But he has good play strength and enough pass-protection skills to earn a backup role in the NFL and work his way into a role player/spot starter at guard.

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GRADE: 6.3 (Developmental Prospect — 5th Round)

OVERALL RANK: 188

POSITION RANK: IOL19

PRO COMPARISON: Trevor Keegan

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Brandon Thorn