OT – Gabe Carimi
Height:  6’7”
Weight:  327
Great fit for: Ravens, Chiefs, Falcons

Sticking with the area of the field where games are won and lost, but going on the other side of the ball next up for me is Wisconsin offensive tackle Gabe Carimi.  This year’s class of offensive line seem like they will start coming off the board in the middle of the first round.  Carimi won’t be the first big man off the board, but is sure to add some youth and size to someone’s offensive line.

Carimi was a four year starter for the Badgers.  The 2010 Outland Trophy winner played left tackle his senior year.  Adding to his experience is the level of competition he faced this year.  The Big Ten should have four defensive ends go in the first two rounds – three of them Carimi has faced.  Watching him play against two of those blue chip d-linemen illustrated where Carimi will be most effective at the next level.

Skill wise, he is a nice run blocker.  He doesn’t come off the ball extremely low, but at 6’7” that will always be a problem.  He compensates for his high center of gravity with his size and strength.  At tackle he shouldn’t be asked to pull too much, but despite his size has good enough feet to get out in space.

When running the ball he handled Iowa’s Adrian Clayborn and Ohio State’s Cameron Heyward consistently.  When he did get into trouble it was when he would over extend himself and get off balance.  Granted it was against two of the best defensive ends in the conference – if not the nation, but if a defender can use quickness against him, Carimi gets into trouble.

His pass protection is where he will have some issues in the NFL.  He was able to eat up power rushers, but speed guys will give him trouble.  Again with Clayborn and Hayward he was able to protect well against Heyward who is more of a power guy, but had trouble against the more athletic Hawkeye.

Right tackle should be a good home for the Outland Trophy winner.  Left ends are typically the run stuffers and are not as athletic as the more highly paid right side.  Because of the Badger run first offense, Carimi will need to develop his pass protection skills to be an elite offensive lineman.  That being said teams at the bottom of the first round would love to grab the big senior.

Although Baltimore – outside of Matt Birk – is young on the offensive line their run first offensive philosophy would be a good fit.  The same can be said for Kansas City.  Young on the corners of the offensive line they might not be looking for offensive line, but the style would also fit well with Carimi.  Two of Atlanta’s top four tackles are entering the second half of their careers and helping the running game as well as Matt Ryan would be a good move for the Falcons.

If my favorite team used half their picks on offensive lineman most years I would not be disappointed.  There is no such thing as having too many quality linemen.  As a late first round pick Gabe Carimi will give a contender a solid physical blocker who should be a quality right tackle for years to come.