Cyrus Kouandjio vs. La'El Collins: Sizing Up the Top Offensive Line Recruits

If you ask any knowledgeable football mind what the most undervalued position on the field is, there’s a good chance their answer will be the offensive tackle spot.

It’s true that the offensive line as a whole is usually the most undervalued component of any football team, but offensive tackle is a position that is especially overlooked when in terms of significance.

If an offense has a great tackle that can get it done in both phases, run blocking and pass blocking, it can really open things up for the unit to find success.

But it just so happens that finding that great offensive tackle can be a very difficult proposition. There are very few lineman who are versatile enough to handle everything that comes along with being an elite offensive tackle. You need to have many different traits - footwork, agility, strength, hand placement, and overall tenacity - to be a truly dominant, standout offensive tackle.

Evaluating any high school football recruit is never an easy task given all the factors it takes to become a successful college player. But there maybe no position on the field that’s quite as hard to evaluate and project as the offensive tackle position.

Sure, it’s easy to pick out the biggest kids on the field, but if you really want to find that great offensive tackle, you have to look deeper.

You have to look for the kids that have that “stick out” factor on tape. The ones that can dominate anybody they go up against in high school. The ones that have the big body and frame to grow into and the athleticism and strength to handle the strong and speedy defensive ends of college football.

There are two such players in the 2011 recruiting class - Cyrus Kouandjio and La’el Collins.

Kouandjio, who plays for Dematha Catholic in Maryland, is a physical marvel. At 6‘7 320 lbs., the Cameroon native has rare size for a teenager.

He’s the type of prospect that not only passes the eye ball test - he aces it!

Cyrus has arms that look like tree trunks and his physical maturity is something that has sparked the interest of every major college football program in America.

Alabama, USC, Miami, and the rest of the big programs have all come calling for his services.

Yes it’s true, Cyrus is very raw at this stage, especially for a top tackle prospect. Kouandjio has only been playing football for five years and right now it’s his body that sets him apart from the crowd instead of his technique. But he’s the type of young man that can be molded into something special as he develops, trains and gets coached up.

It will be interesting to see where the big youngster ends up playing his college football. Whichever program lands him will have the ultimate developmental prospect to work with.

The other top offensive tackle prospect in this class, La’El Collins out of Redemptorist High School in Louisiana, has a more certain future ahead of him. The 6‘4 280 lb. high school senior has been committed to the in-state LSU Tigers since the start of his junior season.

The athletic offensive lineman could be a good replacement for LSU senior left tackle Joseph Barksdale next year. Collins has the size and athleticism to be a major player along LSU’s offensive line as soon as he arrives on campus.

As with any incoming freshman, La’El will have to be coached up and brought up to speed with the technique needed to be an offensive lineman in the SEC, but he offers the Tigers some great potential.

Collins has been dominant during the early part of his senior season as he’s paved the way for fellow LSU commit, Redemptorist running back Jeremy Hill.

So which of these two is the best offensive tackle prospect in the nation?

The two top college football recruiting services, Rivals and Scout, have split opinions of the two. Rivals says it’s La’El Collins while Scout says it’s Cyrus Kouandjio.

In the end, it probably doesn’t matter right now. It’s all about how these kids develop as college players.

They both have the potential to be difference makers at the next level, but the key as always with any offensive lineman will be how they continually progress.

We don’t have a clear cut number one tackle like we had last year with Minnesota’s Seantrel Henderson, which should make the debate all the more fun.