FILM STUDY: OL commit Conner Estes

In July, Louisiana Tech received a commitment from East Central High School (Moss Point, MS) OL Conner Estes (6-5, 290). Today we dig deeper into his tape to look at his strengths and weaknesses.

Watching Conner's tape, the first thing to jump out is his size. At 6' 5” and 290 lbs. He has prototypical size for a D1 offense lineman. While size is not an end all be all for an offensive lineman, when added with his athleticism for the position it lends itself to being an overwhelming strength. After watching some of Conner's tape, and figuring out he wears no. 72 in the film, his athleticism showed quickly. He has a great burst off the ball. In the highlight he quickly moves from his stance up to the second level making his block before the defender has a chance to recognize the ball and even make his move.

This kind of burst will be essential at the collegiate ranks as a quick first step will be needed to gain advantage and to meet the defender before he can recognize the play. His quickness off the ball will lend him well in blocking both defensive lineman and linebackers on running plays. Another part of his athleticism that comes off the film quickly is how well he position himself on a defender when sealing off a hole. Conner once again shows quick burst from his stance and is then able to gain the leverage on his man to turn him in order to widen the hole.

This ability will serve him well when sealing the hole for a running back to pop through. He also shows a good ability of gaining leverage on his defender. While Conner was bigger than most of the defenders he was asked to block, he was still able to get under the pad level of the defender and use the leverage to his advantage, either to take away the defender's momentum, or using his lower body strength to take over the block and drive his defender out of the play or into the ground. The ability to get a low pad level and utilize his lower body strength while taking away the defender's ability to drive his legs will allow him to gain make blocks at the next level even when he may be giving up size or strength.

One major component of Conner's game that will need some work, while there is no film to showcase it, will be in pass blocking. Coming from a run heavy offense in high school, he will most likely need some fine tuning in his pass blocking from Louisiana Tech Offensive Line Coach Robert McFarland. The major difference between the two blocking schemes will be in his approach. In a run blocking scheme an offensive lineman has to be an attacker, driving off the ball and forcing a defender out of the way to form a hole for the runner. While in a pass blocking scheme an offensive lineman has to redirect and block the rush from the defender to form a wall of protection for the quarterback. Coach McFarland will need to hone Conner's pass blocking approach to get him ready to protect Tech's quarterbacks.

Conner will need to develop his pass blocking ability under Coach McFarland, but he has all of the natural ability to be a solid link in the Bulldog's offensive line for the future.