One of the offensive line prospects the Washington Commanders have frequently been linked to is Florida guard O’Cyrus Torrence. Torrence is the consensus top rated guard in this draft class and while 16 may be viewed as slightly too high to be taking a guard, the possibility of a trade back and landing Torrence a little later on is entirely plausible. Torrence is a big bodied guard, measuring in at 6-foot-5, 330 pounds with nearly 34-inch arms and 11-inch hands.
That frame suggests he’s a big, powerful guard that perhaps struggles a little bit athletically, but is that actually the case? Let’s take a closer look.
Run game
As a run blocker, Torrence uses his frame well. His size and weight allows him to overpower defenders and drive them out of the gaps they want to defend.
On this play, Florida runs an inside zone concept to the left. Torrence lines up at right guard with a defensive tackle aligned over his inside shoulder. Off the snap, Torrence looks to engage quickly, getting underneath the pad level of the defender and landing his hands on him. This gives him leverage to exploit as he then pumps his legs and drives the defender out of his gap. The defensive tackle attempts to adjust and fight him off, but Torrence is just too powerful and washes him down the line, taking him completely out of the play.
That power and strength Torrence has makes him a strong asset in the run game, particularly on inside runs and especially in short yardage situations.
Here, Florida faces a second and one situation. They look to run inside to the left to try and pick up the first down and keep the chains moving. Torrence has nobody in his playside gap at the snap, but after the ball is snapped the nose tackle stunts across the face of the center towards Torrence. Torrence anticipates the stunt early and does a great job closing off the gap quickly while maintaining solid leverage. He gets his pads low and uses his frame to drive the defensive tackle out of the gap and down the line. This creates a nice lane for the running back to cut into and get up the field, picking up the first down easily.
Torrence understands that his frame allows him to create movement if used properly. He can help other blocks by throwing his weight around and bumping defenders out of gaps to help his teammates secure their blocks.
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