Dawand Jones NFL Draft 2023: Scouting Report for Ohio State OT

HEIGHT: 6'8"

WEIGHT: 374

HAND: 11 5/8"

ARM: 36 3/8"

WINGSPAN: TBD

40-YARD DASH: 5.35

3-CONE: TBD

SHUTTLE: TBD

VERTICAL: TBD

BROAD: TBD

POSITIVES

— Plays with excellent snap timing, getting out of his stance quickly and on time.

— Unique overall size with a towering frame, exceptional arm length and massive hands.

— Routinely establishes first meaningful contact on defenders with heavy hands to create instant stopping power, jolt and displacement.

— Excels using jump sets to blot out rushers on RPOs and play action with an effective snatch technique to take away leverage when rushers use power.

— Shows solid patience and ability to keep rushers at his fingertips in pass protection to maximize his size and length, elongating the path to the quarterback.

— An asset as a lead blocker on tosses, pitches and sweeps with the burst to close space, cover up and delete his target.

— Physical and aggressive demeanor to look for work when uncovered, get after defenders in the run game and generate some overwhelming knockdowns.

— Showed substantial improvement in his footwork and use of hands as a pass-protector from the 2021 to 2022 season.

NEGATIVES

— Top-heavy and overly reliant on length. Forgets to always bring his feet with him into blocks.

— Marginal redirect and change-of-direction skills result in minimal ability to recover when defenders defeat his initial punch.

— Below-average processing skills to diagnose basic line games and stunts on time, leading to losing levels and proper spacing with his right guard.

2022 STATISTICS

— 12 starts at right tackle

— Third-team All-Big 10 selection (coaches)

NOTES

— Former 3-star tackle recruit out of Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis

— Was a standout basketball player with offers from Kent State and Ball State after averaging 17 points and nine rebounds as a senior

— 26 career starts at right tackle

— Turns 22 years old on Aug. 6

— Invited and accepted his invite to the 2023 Reese's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama

OVERALL

Dawand Jones is a two-year starter at right tackle inside Ohio State's balanced offense and multiple run game with a mix of zone and gap schemes. Jones has a towering frame with unique length and massive, powerful hands. He also does a very good job of timing the snap and getting out of his stance on time, allowing him to close distance on defenders quickly.

Jones utilizes his unmatched length to his advantage and establishes first meaningful contact on defenders with very good upper-body strength to create immediate stopping power and snap the opponents' head back. He wins as a run-blocker by covering up and keeping defenders at his fingertips while running his feet to create displacement on double-teams, kick-out and down blocks.

His best attribute as a run-blocker is leading on pitches, tosses and sweeps with the snap timing, size and burst to close space, cover up and erase smaller targets. Once Jones gets the upper hand and gets defenders leaning, he is looking to finish through the whistle and send a message.

Jones wins a lot of engagements with his length, but he shows marginal change-of-direction and recovery skills while being overly reliant on striking with heavy, two-hand strikes as a run-blocker. This leads to him leaning into contact and falling off blocks quickly against shifty defenders who can avoid his initial punch.

Jones markedly improved his patience, footwork and use of hands in pass protection this past season compared to 2021. Due to his size and ability to consistently fire off the ball on time, he is best using jump sets on RPOs and play action to cover up and blot out rushers.

Jones will open his hips quickly against widely aligned rushers and has marginal redirect and change-of-direction ability to mirror and protect the corner, but his exceptional reach and increased patience acts as an equalizer to widen the edge and dramatically increase the distance rushers have to travel to work around his frame. Jones also shows a potent circle punch technique to come up, around and land his outside hand on the outer number of rushers, effectively closing off the corner.

Jones needs to sharpen his processing skills and recognize basis line games and stunts more quickly. He is persistently late with his eyes to recognize the penetrator and inside pick attempts, resulting in him getting picked and losing levels too easily.

Overall, Jones should be able to start as a rookie using his unique size, length and initial quickness with an aggressive, physical demeanor to overwhelm defenders in the run and pass game. His top-heavy playing style, marginal redirect skills and underdeveloped processing ability will result in quick, glaring losses, but his trajectory and age signal an improving player with upside to add polish to his game and become a solid, dependable starter within his first contract.

GRADE: 7.6 (Potential Impact Player)

OVERALL RANK: 41

POSITION RANK: OT5

PRO COMPARISON: Phil Loadholt

Written by B/R NFL Scout Brandon Thorn