Top 10 interior offensive linemen in the 2021 NFL Draft

#6 2021 NFL Draft: Josh Myers (Ohio State)

6’ 5”, 315 pounds; RS JR

Josh Myers

Once just outside the top 50 overall recruits in the country, Josh Myers redshirted his first year on campus and then backed up Michael Jordan (the other one) the following season.

He started the last two seasons and excelled, earning second- and first-team All-Big Ten honors, spear-heading the way for 2000-yard rusher J.K. Dobbins and then being one of the key-pieces for the Buckeyes trip to the National Championship game, for an offense that scored 38+ points in all but two contests.

Myers is a tall center prospect, who is one of the most consistent interior linemen in this class. He has excelled in Ohio State’s zone-heavy run game, where he really opens his hips as he snaps the ball, to gain ground laterally.

He tightly gets into the hip-pocket of his guards, often times slightly behind them, to take over the down-linemen, almost as if he was skip-pulling, but then he also displays tremendous timing and an approach to come off combo-blocks. He he has excellent mobility to climb to the second level with clean “releases”, with no wasted steps and then he hits his targets at a high rate.

On more outside-oriented run schemes, he usually reaches one-techniques with no issues and does a great job of bringing his hips around to pin linebackers inside, while also showing good balance on those wrap-around pulls to lead the way.

Myers actively re-places his hands constantly to sustain blocks and his length helps him stay on them just that split-second longer, while keeping those legs driving until the whistle blows. Even when he isn’t in perfect position, he keeps those hands attached to the defender and shields them, not allowing them to see or get a clear shot at the ball-carrier. He can also get late movement as he may slip off to give that little extra shove. I also like watching him get on his horse and put hands on people in the screen game.

As a pass-protector, Myers quickly lands his hands on defenders lined up over him and is technically sound at adjusting to rushers, while his length allows him to guide them off track at the end of his reach. Because of his height, he can lose the leverage battle, but rushers rarely make first contact with their hands.

Even when they can move him backwards, he does a nice job of kicking those feet back and getting his hands into a power-position again to re-anchor. What really stands out with Myers in the pass game.

He constantly helps out his guards and attaches to the rushers matched up with them as soon as he sees color flash towards the A-gaps and at least allows those guys next to him to square of their targets, while keeping his eyes locked on the second level, in case any delayed blitzes may occur.

Myers shows great awareness and technique when passing on twists and overall is a very active communicator in protection, who was responsible for a lot of the checks on that Ohio State offensive line. I also really like the way he makes play-action look pretty much exactly like run, especially faking zone, with the way he turns those hips.

Nevertheless, his height creates some issues, when it comes to losing the leverage battle routinely and because he is pretty high-hipped and doesn’t sink as naturally, it makes him a little tight in his ability to flip the hips when trying to recover in pass-pro.

He plays rather tall in all areas, isn’t that explosive out of his stance and he doesn’t really strike with his hands necessarily. That’s why he can’t just drive shade-nose tackles on down blocks and doesn’t bring a lot of thump, when he meets linebackers at the second level. Plus, his center of gravity shifts over his toes a lot, which leads to balance issues and him slipping off blocks late.

Ohio State almost exclusively ran different variations of inside and outside zone. And as impressive as he was in 2019, you have to mention that he played in-between two tremendous All-Big Ten guards. When you look at his numbers in pass-pro, Myers has allowed six sacks over these last two seasons (22 total games), despite just 264 pass-blocking snaps during a COVID-shortened 2020 season.

Myers is one of the most rock-solid players in this entire draft, regardless of position. He has been one of the major keys for one of the top rushing offenses these last few years.

The sack numbers are not representative of his work in pass-pro, considering what I explained with Wyatt Davis, where it was the center taking more of the blame for free rushers as part of missed assignments. His inability to sink into his hips limits him to some degree, and he might be looked at as a center primarily, but I see him as an impact starter from day one.