3 Junior Offensive Lineman to Watch Closely in 2023

<strong>Terrance Saunders II – Blue Valley West, 6’4 270 T (Unranked Jr)</strong> What jumps off the screen right away when turning on the tape is that he’s just scratching the surface of what he could become. The imposing Blue Valley West product has ferociously heavy hands that allow him to pack a neutralizing punch without being fully behind his pads. Once he wins is when the fun starts, as he epitomizes the term “country strong”, effortlessly relocating his assignments and wiping them out of the play. There are flashes in his game that show his hands and his feet working in unison, allowing him to maintain favorable position when engaged, and he should be able to do this on a more consistent basis once he polishes his hand placement. Saunders also does a good job using his wide frame and long stride to his advantage in pass protection, making it difficult for opposing rushers to find an angle to turn the corner. While he may not be a natural knee bender, if he can continue to improve his hand technique, Saunders has the size, brute strength, and sneaky agility to shoot up the rankings as a senior and be a heavily recruited player. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="87684" first="Dylan" last="Birge"] – Olathe West, 6’2 275 C/G (Prep Redzone Jr OL4)</strong> While you rarely hear the word ‘precision’ used when describing an offensive lineman’s game, but it is as apt as it gets when describing [player_tooltip player_id="87684" first="Dylan" last="Birge"]’s game. Firing off the ball in a blink, with tremendous natural leverage, he hits the landmarks on his assignment with ruthless precision. When asked to block on the move, Birge displays excellent footwork and patience, allowing him to cleanly square up his assignment. He is absolutely deadly on combo blocks and seals, as he uses very good hip fluidity to turn and explode through contact. He aided in this by his most impressive physical attribute; a terrifyingly powerful lower body. When Birge is latched on and up and under his opponent, there is nowhere to go but backward, and his ability to swivel his hips and steer while engaged allow him to open up gaping holes in the run game. With fundamentals and lower body development that far exceed what is expected of a high school junior, the future is very bright for [player_tooltip player_id="87684" first="Dylan" last="Birge"], and he should already be attracting the attention of college coaches as he approaches his senior season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="127699" first="Calvin" last="Clements"] – Lawrence Free State 6’7 275 T (Prep Redzone Jr OL6)</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="127699" first="Calvin" last="Clements"] looks like a left tackle a Division 1 offensive line coach would build in a lab. He has engulfing size, and is only just starting to fill out his frame. Once you get past the eyeball test and put the film on, you see impressively nimble feet and hip flexibility for a taller tackle. He opens up his hips effortlessly in pass pro, and with tree trunks for legs, he covers ground in a blink, allowing him excellent recovery ability to widen angles for opposing rushers. Despite having a somewhat unfulfilled frame at this stage of his physical development, he packs a mean punch, and with his reach he flashes the ability to jar and overwhelm opponents when blocking on the move even when his angles initially appears unfavorable. In addition, he flashes some brute upper body strength, allowing him gain control and steer his opponent, and he seems to relish the opportunity to do this with some nastiness and violence. He is excellent at sealing the edge on off tackle runs due to this, and when he can get into his opponent’s chest he is very difficult to shed when he moves his feet upon engagement Clements still has some work to do in the weight room, but make no mistake, there is a Division 1 left tackle in the making here.