Simon Stepaniak NFL Draft 2020: Scouting Report for Green Bay Packers' Pick

OG18 Simon Stepaniak, Indiana

STRENGTHS

—Matched legitimate play strength with 37 reps on the bench press at the combine.

—Has a junkyard-dog attitude and is looking for a fight at the line of scrimmage every snap.

—The kind of player that lives for contact and physicality; line him up one-on-one in a phone booth and he wins more often than not.

—Above-average hand placement in the run game; when combined with his upper-body strength, can be enough to help him win reps.

—Excellent overall frame (6'4", 313 lbs); looks built for life in the trenches.

WEAKNESSES

—Torn ACL in December prevented him from doing on-field drills at combine; may make him an IR candidate as a rookie if teams don't have as much time for OTAs and minicamps.

—Poor lateral athleticism in pass protection; speed counters will eat him alive in the NFL.

—Overextends unnecessarily in pass protection; base expands too much, which forces some balance issues that show up with a forward lean.

—Limited open-field athleticism, likely more so following the injury, and he'll struggle to make an impact as a reach-blocker on plays to the boundary.

OVERALL

Stepaniak looks like he was built for the NFL 20 years ago. Speed has become a priority all over the field, and while offensive linemen don't need to be track stars, the best linemen in the league have above-average movement skills. Stepaniak is at his best working linearly in tight spaces. Need someone to deliver a crushing down block with highlight-film-caliber finishes? He's your guy. A late-season ACL injury surely hurt his stock, and his rookie year will be based on how that injury heals.

GRADE: 59

PRO COMPARISON: Matt Slauson/Don Barclay