Texas A&M G Kenyon Green entered the 2022 NFL Draft cycle as an exciting prospect with awe-inspiring potential. While his junior season may not have met that expectation, Green still possesses a scouting report that is bustling with promise if not quite the same high-level projection.
Kenyon Green NFL Draft Profile
- Position: Offensive Guard
- School: Texas A&M
- Current Year: Junior
- Height: 6’3 7/8″
- Weight: 323 pounds
- Wingspan: 83 3/8″
- Arm: 34 1/8″
- Hand: 10 3/8″
Kenyon Green Scouting Report
While Green has seen something of a dip in his NFL Draft stock, his scouting report still holds firm following his junior season. He hasn’t developed quite as strongly as might have been expected given the base of his summer scouting report. However, there is still plenty for NFL teams to get excited about with the Texas A&M guard.
At just under 6’4″ and 323 pounds, Green has an appealing build for the interior of the offensive line. With the leverage battle being dictated by being the low man, the Texas A&M guard’s stout build is exactly what you want at the position. Furthermore, Green has an excellent wingspan and arm length at the position, which brings its own natural advantages that we’ll discuss shortly.
Being naturally low is combined with a routinely excellent stance. Green lines up low, bending at the knees and sinking his behind in the manner you expect to see from offensive linemen. He consistently plays with low pad level, allowing him to get up and under his opposition, manipulating them with handwork, leverage, and strength.
A mauling guard in the ground game, with a solid anchor in pass protection
The combination of the above factors makes Green an impressive threat in the ground game. He plays with a mauler’s mentality, routinely working to dominate and finish his man into the ground.
The Texas A&M explodes with violence and strength. He’s demonstrated that he can overpower most opponents in the SEC. Furthermore, when asked to perform as a pulling guard, Green does so with athletic ability and devastating impact force.
Although he does his best work in the ground game, Green has alluring traits as a pass protector. With his stout build, lower body strength, and low and wide stance, he can produce an exceptional anchor. I’ve often remarked that the Texas A&M guard could anchor a yacht to the ocean floor in a monsoon.
While his assumed projection to college offensive tackle didn’t quite bring the expected results in his junior season, Green does bring an element of versatility. He has experience at four of the five offensive line spots. He has the potential to be a starting guard at the NFL level, but the versatility will prove alluring for NFL teams. Green is also an intelligent NFL Draft prospect who routinely looks for work upon completing his assignment.
Areas for improvement
While Green has some extremely impressive traits that will translate to the next level, he isn’t the polished NFL Draft prospect that we’d envisioned at the start of the year. He’ll still command first-round attention with starting NFL potential, but there are some areas for improvement and development to attain that projection.
Sometimes the Texas A&M guard’s aggression can lead to him lunging at the opposition. As a result, with his weight too far forward, there are examples of him losing balance and hitting the ground. This is more apparent as he attempts to work vertically.
While he’s demonstrated the ability to get out to the second level and combat linebackers to open running lanes at the second level, there are some timing and hand placement issues to work through here. Sometimes, Green mistimes contact, allowing his opponent to shed his block comfortably. The misplacement of hands has the same result.
Hand placement can also be an issue at the point of attack. Green is prone to being wide with his hand placement, rather than getting both hands inside his opponents’ frame. Not only does this cede advantage in the leverage battle, but could see him be liable to penalties at the NFL level as he can be guilty of holding in this situation.
Finally, Green’s athletic testing may cause some concern. Other than an impressive 10-yard split at the NFL Combine, his overall testing was below what you would have expected ahead of this year. The Texas A&M guard also looked like he was carrying some excess weight where he has previously been a more well-built prospect.
Green’s Player Profile
Green has been primed for greatness from a young age. His father, Henry, was a guard at Grambling State, and his father passed down his expertise as Kenyon grew up in Humble, Texas. Despite his father’s roots on the offensive line, Green started his high school career playing defensive line as a freshman at Atascocita High School. Yet, his size and unique athletic ability prompted his coaches to suggest a position change.
Resistant at first, Green dutifully accepted the role change and soon emerged as a stellar talent at offensive tackle. By the end of his sophomore season, he was widely regarded as one of the best offensive linemen in the nation. 247 Sports listed him as a five-star prospect, the third-best offensive tackle in the country, and the No. 1 player in Texas.
Green made an early commitment to LSU as a young man overwhelmed by the attention that comes with being such a highly regarded recruit. Eventually, he would walk back his commitment, allowing time to make a more informed decision.
After another dominant season in the high-powered Atascocita defense as a junior, he narrowed his choices down to five. Although Texas, LSU, and Alabama warranted consideration, one team significantly impacted the young offensive lineman. Before his senior season, Green announced his commitment to Texas A&M.
Green’s career at Texas A&M
Despite being the leader for his signature for the longest time, Green was a major recruiting coup for the Aggies. They hadn’t secured a five-star commitment since 2015. Furthermore, they’d failed to land the No. 1 prospect in Texas since 2014. As a result, there was a sense of expectation for the young offensive lineman. Green delivered in style.
Although he’d played offensive tackle for Atascocita, he made the switch inside for Texas A&M. Following his debut against Texas State, Green started every game of his true freshman season at right guard. He helped carve open running lanes, allowing the Aggies to have several games with multiple 100+ yard rushers, including in his first game.
Green’s performances at guard for Texas A&M earned him both internal and external attention. Upon the conclusion season, he was named the team’s Offensive Top Newcomer. Additionally, he was recognized with a place on the SEC All-Freshman team.
Having displayed versatility to switch from tackle to right guard seamlessly, Texas A&M moved Green along the formation to left guard for the 2020 college football season. He once again started every game as the Aggies mounted a challenge for the College Football Playoff behind strong offensive line play.
Green’s NFL Draft ascension
Exhibiting incredible development from the previous season, the Aggies led the SEC in sacks allowed, tackles for loss allowed, and rushing yards per carry. The unit went four consecutive games — from Alabama to Arkansas — without giving up a single sack. Having allowed 2.61 sacks per game in 2019, Texas A&M allowed just 0.7 per game in 2020, led by their sophomore guard. The unit received national recognition as a finalist for the prestigious Joe Moore Award and Green received All-Conference accolades.
With an anticipated switch to left tackle bringing excitement for his NFL projection, Green was considered one of the top 2022 NFL Draft prospects ahead of his junior campaign. While he did see time at left tackle (against Alabama), he started the season at right tackle. Green saw time at every position except center throughout an underwhelming season for the Aggies.
Despite the upheaval of his rotational usage, Green was thrice named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week. Although his NFL Draft stock appears to have taken a hit through the season, he was still named an All-American by multiple outlets, earned first-team All-SEC accolades, and was named the Texas A&M Offensive MVP.
While his NFL Draft stock has taken a hit, Green still has the potential to be a late first-round selection. He’s the second-ranked interior offensive lineman on the Pro Football Network Top 300 Big Board. Furthermore, he currently sits as the 25th overall prospect. Green might not have matched pre-season hype, but his mauling playstyle and impressive anchor should ensure he’s an upgrade for a team at the guard position.
Tony Pauline’s scouting report for Kenyon Green
Positives: Tough, wide-bodied blocker with a versatile game. Strong, bends his knees, and easily controls opponents. Keeps his head on a swivel, works well with linemates, and always looks for someone to hit. Nasty, jolts opponents with tremendous hand punch, and works hard to finish blocks. Sinks his butt at the line of scrimmage, blocks with proper pad level, and plays with tremendous leverage. Explosive at the point, keeps his feet moving, and consistently controls defenders.
Negatives: Occasionally bends at the waist. Grabs opponents too much. Gets beaten by quick or nimble opponents.
Analysis: Green is a nasty, slug-it-out blocker who effectively lined up at multiple positions for Texas A&M. He projects as a power-gap guard in the NFL and could be starting early in his rookie season.