The Minnesota Vikings were one of the league’s worst pass-blocking teams two years ago, ranking 27th in the NFL. To rectify this, Rick Spielman drafted Boise State left tackle Ezra Cleveland in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
The two-time first-team All-Mountain West lineman only missed one game in college figures to help bolster the Vikings offensive line. So how did Ezra Cleveland do in his inaugural year? Before I can answer that question, let’s take a deep dive into what kind of player Cleveland is and what his expectations were before the season.
A brief scouting report from Joe Marino of The Draft Network, who had an interesting player comparison:
Pros: Wonderful mobility that shows up when framing speedy edge rushers and working laterally in outside zone. Has outstanding range in space and the ability to work back inside and cut three-techniques. He does a great job keeping his feet and hips engaged, enabling him to sustain blocks despite not being a guy that generates much in the way of vertical push. Has the foot speed needed to mirror. Has good overall body control and doesn’t get panicky in pass pro, although the power to redirect is missing. Punch is efficient. Three-year starter.
Cons: Functional strength disappoints. Isn’t going to stun defenders with a powerful punch or unlock his hips to create push in the run game. Punch is fairly soft. Doesn’t feature a stout anchor and he will have challenges maintaining the width of the pocket against power rushers in the NFL. Modest length and ability to keep opponents at the edge of his reach. Can be susceptible to inside moves by over-committing to the outside rush. You won’t find much in the way of a mean streak or maulers mentality present in his game. Effective college blocker but never dominated.
His pro comparison was Brian O’Neill, who is the anchor of Minnesota’s o-line.
Heading into his rookie season, Ezra Cleveland wasn’t even projected to start. He was considered a raw talent who needed some time to develop. For the first five weeks, Ezra sat behind Dakota Dozier and Pat Elflein on the depth chart, which disappointed many fans who were sick of seeing the same uninspiring veterans get multiple opportunities to start on an underperforming offensive line.
Week 6 rolls around and Elflein isn’t available to play against the Atlanta Falcons, so the former Boise State left tackle gets his first NFL start — at right guard. Predictably, he struggled to keep the pocket clean against Grady Jarrett, allowing five pressures and a sack netting him an abysmal PFF pass-blocking grade of 27.5. The funniest and most depressing part about all of this is Ezra Cleveland still finished with a better pass-blocking grade than Dakota Dozier (22.0). The Vikings ended up losing 40-23.
Coming out of the bye week, Cleveland lived up to his second-round draft position. He played his best game of the season at Lambeau, where he didn’t allow any pressures or sacks and was not penalized. He led the team in pass blocking with a PFF grade of 83.7 as the Minnesota Dalvins beat the Green Bay Adams 28-22.
Cleveland’s play was serviceable throughout the course of the season. He had a tendency to struggle pass blocking against teams with strong interior defensive lines like the Chicago Bears in Week 10 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 14. Despite this, he did a respectable job playing out of position and showed noticeable improvement with each passing week, which is the most important takeaway for a rookie.
Cleveland finished out the season with:
- A PFF pass-blocking grade of 52
- PFF run-blocking grade of 67.5
- Overall PFF grade of 66.2
Ezra will need to improve as a pass blocker for the Vikings to succeed. He allowed 23 pressures, which is not ideal when you have a pocket quarterback like Kirk Cousins who isn’t great at escaping pressure.
But his run-blocking ability surprised me. I personally didn’t see him as the most aggressive run blocker, but he seemed to do pretty well creating holes for Dalvin Cook in the run game.
The thing that stands out the most with Ezra Cleveland is just how athletic he is. He’s 6’6″, 311 lbs, and ran a 4.93 40-yard dash at the combine, which was the third-fastest among all offensive linemen in his draft class.
To illustrate how athletic Ezra Cleveland is, here is a chart with his combine measurables and test score percentiles:
As you can see, Ezra Cleveland is average or above average in every category except arm length and hand size. Although not 100% identical comparisons, his athletic scores match up well with Garett Bolles, Joe Haeg, and Brian O’Neill.
The first thing that stands out with these players is that all four of them were strong in drills that test a player’s speed and quickness, something that’s important in an outside zone scheme like the Vikings run. What’s also noticeable is none of these players have great length or hand size, as O’Neill had the highest percentile of the two categories at 54.
Some players did better on the vertical jump than others, but Bolles, Haeg, and O’Neill all scored between the 42nd-68th percentile, while Ezra Cleveland knocked it out of the park, scoring in the 89th percentile.
When comparing measurables and test scores, it becomes abundantly clear that Cleveland is easily the most gifted athlete of the group, even when compared to O’Neill.
It would take a lot of practice and reps, but if Ezra Cleveland plays up to his athletic ability and improves as a pass blocker, he has the potential to be the team’s best offensive lineman. Having a better and more athletic version of Brian O’Neill is something the Vikings and the fanbase would love to have.
