San Francisco 49ers: 2018 NFL Draft options to help fix the offensive line
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: Offensive Tackle Orlando Brown, Oklahoma
6-foot-7, 345 pounds
Remember, the tackle position isn’t entirely guaranteed for the 49ers next year. Especially beyond.
Joe Staley will need to be replaced at some point down the line, and a guess would have the Niners bumping right tackle Trent Brown over to Staley’s spot within the next couple of years, if not sooner.
But if the 49ers wanted to get a jump on a younger replacement for one tackle spot, they could do worse than look at Oklahoma’s Orlando Brown.
Like Trent Brown, Orlando Brown is a behemoth up front and could be a bookend right tackle for the next five or 10 years.
That’s a smart investment.
What He Does Well
It’s almost impossible to move Brown in pass protection, which is why he’s so comparable to the 49ers’ Trent Brown.
Average-to-good NFL-level pass-rushers would have serious trouble getting around Orlando Brown from either the right or left side, as shown in the DraftBreakdown.com video below:
His big arms and physique allow him to easily swallow up pass-rushers, and one should expect this to continue at the next level.
The Concerns
Just like Trent Brown, Orlando Brown isn’t the quickest or shiftiest out there. Similarly, Brown has difficulties engaging his blocks beyond the point of attack, which points to him being limited in reaching the second level.
Pro Football Weekly’s Greg Gabriel broke it down:
"While he is productive with drive blocks, Brown can be inconsistent with making productive blocks at the second level. He doesn’t consistently take good angles and lacks top short-area quickness. He will pull on occasion and looks slow in doing so, and again he can be inconsistent in making a productive block."
Projected Round: 1-2