Joe Alt scouting report: Exploring the Notre Dame OT's strengths and weaknesses

One of the top-500 overall recruits in 2021 and the son of former NFL Pro Bowl tackle John Alt, Joe played in all 13 and started the latter eight games at left tackle for Notre Dame as a true freshman. Each of the last two years, he was a first-team All-American (unanimous in 2023), being in the lineup for all 25 contests he’s been available for.

He helped pave the way for an offense that rushed for just under 5,000 yards over the past two seasons combined and averaged 39.1 points in 2023.

Joe Alt scouting report

Run-blocking:

• Nimble athlete for his 6’8”+ stature, running a 5.05 in the 40 and finishing with the top marks among tackles in both the agility drills
• Presents a long reach, which allows him to steer defenders trying to work around or dip underneath him
• Uses the momentum of edge defenders against them in the run game regularly, as he gets his hands underneath their armpit and takes them off track if they try to get upfield with their first couple of steps
• Does a great job of attaching to the hip of his guard and providing vertical movement on combo blocks with him thanks to strong leg-drive
• You regularly see Alt get underneath the chest plate or armpit of three techniques and catch them off balance when they pull someone behind him
• Shows the reactionary ability to secure the B-gap and then peel back on the edge defender on the backside of certain run calls where he’s assigned hinge blocks, to push that guy up the field
• Frequently takes linebackers way off their landmarks by getting his hands on them and keeping those legs churning
• Notre Dame regularly would pull him from the backside on power and counter concepts, where he’d take a narrow path behind the butts of his fellow linemen before bending up the front-side gap
• Has some impressive reps on tape, where they pin down the end-man and pull him out to the corner, to take a defensive back for a ride on toss plays

Pass-protection:

• Has the athletic feet to cut off the angle for edge rushers and lands his hands inside their chest very effectively
• Just trying to speed around the arc isn’t a recipe for success against this guy, because you will not have the optimal path with his kind of length
• Capable of getting his hands at the armpits of rushers to slow down their charge but have his weight shifted onto his base that he keeps behind himself, so guys can’t get around him even if they do slide off
• Alt’s eyes immediately transition inside and his hands are ready at his mid-section to take over the B-gap rusher, as he sees his man on the edge stick his outside foot in the ground for T-E twists
• When his man is doing the set-up, Alt makes sense to hand off the spiker before peeling off to the guy trying to get around the edge
• Appears under control if the picture is muddy and they have to sort out games, comfortable delivering the first punch on the man in range before picking up his ultimate assignment
• Had a great showing against Clemson first-round pick Myles Murphy on the edge in 2022, not allowing a single pressure that day
• Only was charged with one sack and 12 additional pressures surrendered across 776 pass-blocking snaps these last two years combined, as PFF’s highest-ranked tackle in the FBS each of the past two seasons as a true sophomore and junior (91.4 and 90.7 respectively)

Weaknesses:

• I don’t see an overpowering run-blocker, who gets the job done with angles and hand placement over raw force to displace guys actually trying to set a firm edge
• Not the most naturally fluid athlete, which shows up when defenders try to back-door him or he has to redirect against slanting D-linemen post-snap
• Already has that tall build and then is a little late to brace against power at times
• His hands in protection, when he doesn’t battle early in pass-pro reps, look more like he’s ready to catch the ball than deliver impact, as he rarely is the one to set the tone that way

While Alt will make his way inside my personal top ten, I believe he’s not quite the slam-dunk prospect consensus rankings would make you believe he is. His tape at Notre Dame – in particular last season – is very clean and he was only charged with four penalties on 2,214 total snaps in his career.

However, whether it’s transferring force from the ground up and sustaining blocks on challenging angles or naturally absorbing force in pass protection by sinking his hands, I believe he’ll be challenged in new ways against NFL athletes. Not saying at all that he wasn’t coached very well with the Fighting Irish.

I’d still have no problem with him being the first tackle off the board, but I think there are five guys at the top of the class with very similar grades and no medical concerns to speak of.

Grade: Top 10