College: Alabama
Height:6’6 ¾”
Weight: 322 pounds
Strengths
Athleticism: 35 5/8 inch arms, quick feet and strong legs show up on tape. Kouandjio displays a strong leg drive and regularly finishes plays with anger. Furthermore, he maintains great leverage for a man of his size and when he gets in position with a good bend the play is over for the defender.
Smart: Playing for Alabama’s program helps in this area but so does lining up alongside such talents as Chance Warmack and Barrett Jones. As a result, Kouandjio is an intelligent, assignment-minded football player who understands line calls and could assist with alignment identification at the pro level.
Prototypical size: If you hand-built a NFL tackle, you would build Cyrus Kouandjio. 6’6 3/4” tall, 35 5/8 inch arms, 10 ¼ inch hands and weighing 322 pounds are ideal measurable for NFL coaches to work with.
Growth room: To couple with Kouandjio’s size, he will turn 21 years old in July. By the time he has three full seasons under his belt he will still be the same age of some prospects from the 2017 NFL Draft class. Like any player there are concerns, but Kouandjio will have scouts dreaming of what he could do with further development.
Weaknesses
Focus: At times it appears Kouandjio just is not “with it” and looks surprised the ball has been snapped and he must kick-slide to mirror a pass rush or get out his stance and drive a defender back. On one play I witnessed he adjusted his helmet mid-play and gave up a sack.
Hand placement: Poor hand placement can be a major problem for a number of reasons. Firstly, it can give defenders an advantage when they deploy their moves such as rip and swim. Secondly, it can lead to a number of holding calls coming your way if the hands slide outside the defenders frame.
Combine performance: The athletic, mobile Kouandjio we see on tape did not turn up at the NFL Combine in February. A 40-yard dash of 5.59 seconds (which included a 1.87 ten-yard split), 21 reps on the bench press (second fewest of all offensive lineman in attendance) and an eight foot broad jump highlighted the disappointments.
Knee Injury: To add insult to injury, quite literally, it was reported that a number of teams at the combine failed Kouandjio on his physical, with an arthritic knee the concern. It is believed the problem comes from a failed surgery that Kouandjio had in his freshman year. Since the combine a number of professionals have come forward to dismiss any concerns, however, it is likely the tackle is now off a number of teams’ draft boards.
NFL Comparison
Tyron Smith, Dallas Cowboys. Kouandjio, like Smith, could start on the right side of the offensive line before kicking to the left once his pass protection qualities have been shored up. Smith was a lot better at pass blocking when coming out of college but still needed to prove he had the strength to succeed at the next level. Furthermore, Kouandjio has youth on his size with unlimited potential to be a 12-year starter in the NFL. In many ways this could be seen as a lazy comparison but the career paths both players will take will be almost identical.
Draft Outlook
Before the college season began it was accepted that Kouandjio was a first-round pick and likely a top-15 one at that. However, with more time to pick apart his game and the disastrous combine – both performance and medical – it has raised a lot of eyebrows which could see the Alabama product fall into the second round.
Best Fits
The Seattle Seahawks may look at Kouandjio at the end of the first round and plug him in at right tackle. The Seahawks suffered a number of injuries along the offensive line in 2014 and with Kouandjio’s versatility he could be the perfect fit. Russell Okung is a very good player, however, with a contract that will be paying a lot over the next couple of years Kouandjio provides added flexibility.
The Houston Texans would also be an ideal fit as Kouandjio excels in the running game, while Tampa Bay and Atlanta are also seeking tackle help.
Follow Richard on Twitter @Richard_Gatenby