Jared Hocker NFL Draft 2021: Scouting Report for Seattle Seahawks OL

HEIGHT: 6'6"

WEIGHT: 327 lbs

POSITIVES

—Large frame with thick limbs, broad shoulders, solid length and huge hands.

—Above-average play strength and square power to deliver jolt at the point of attack and create consistent movement on angle-drive and deuce blocks.

—Does an effective job pulling and kicking the end man on the line of scrimmage with the temperance to seal/log "wrong-arming" defenders inside.

—Has a stiff punch that can stop defenders in their tracks.

NEGATIVES

—Steps under himself consistently when defenders cross his face and struggles to widen them out to protect his edge.

—Has a tendency to hop out of his stance in pass protection with high pads and uneven weight distribution that limits his ability to redirect laterally.

—Late, wide hands on contact grant easy access into his frame.

—Heavily relies on a flipper technique in the run game to generate initial movement and fails to establish a consistent latch or control throughout the rep, muddying up the read for the runner.

—Needs to be in a gap/power-based run scheme that focuses on creating vertical displacement. 

2020 STATISTICS

—Started all 10 games at right guard.

NOTES

—39 career game appearances with 33 total starts; 17 at left guard and 16 at right guard.

—Season-ending knee injury after making eight starts his true sophomore season in 2018.

—Originally committed to Texas Tech before changing his mind and joining the Aggies.

OVERALL

Hocker is a three-year starter in Jimbo Fisher's power/inside zone-based run scheme with plenty of experience against quality NFL interior defensive linemen from the SEC over that span. He has a large, thick frame and build with the brute strength and physicality to be an asset on downhill, vertical-based run concepts with impressive stopping power in his punch.

While Hocker can bang and displace in-line effectively, he needs to refine his use of hands to gain better control of defenders to sustain/steer and not fall off of blocks as often as he does.

Hocker is upright, high and sluggish in pass protection with a bad habit of stepping under himself when shifty defenders cross his face, creating soft corners and losing too quickly. Hocker has the traits to provide quality depth and develop into an eventual starter in a heavy inside zone/duo/gap run scheme. 

GRADE: 6.9/10 (Round 5)

OVERALL RANK: 175/300

POSITION RANK: IOL22

PRO COMPARISON: Ike Boettger

Written by B/R NFL Scout Brandon Thorn