Ever since 2021, Georgia center Sedrick Van Pran has been on the 2024 NFL Draft radar as a potential early-round talent. That kind of early exposure can both help and hurt prospects, but as Van Pran’s scouting report shows, he can back up his reputation in the NFL.
Sedrick Van Pran Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’4″
- Weight: 310 pounds
- Position: Center
- School: Georgia
- Current Year: Redshirt Junior
Van Pran’s career path at Georgia was fairly simple. He joined the team as a four-star recruit and served as a reserve lineman. And then, he started 43 straight games at center from 2021 through 2023.
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Particularly at the center position, you want your starter to be the model of consistency, and that’s what Van Pran was across his career with the Bulldogs. An All-American, a first-team All-SEC honoree, two-time national champion — you name it, that’s what he was.
Sedrick Van Pran vs. LBs isn’t fair 😳pic.twitter.com/L6bjsBvR3t
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 7, 2022
Now, Van Pran has a Senior Bowl showing on deck, and he’s already viewed as one of the top interior offensive line prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft. Looking more closely at his scouting report, where exactly does he grade out?
Van Pran’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Sports a dense and compact frame and acquires leverage with very little strain.
- Elite explosive threat who teleports to the second level and has great range in space.
- Erupts off the snap with ruthless energy and urgency and is always on the attack.
- Has the lateral explosiveness to get outside the 2i off the snap and seal gaps.
- Has the upper-body torque to redirect defenders and use their momentum against them.
- Can blast defenders off-balance with heavy hand blows and capitalize on imbalance.
- Can generate overwhelming power drive with his base and churn through linemen.
- Hips are noticeably free, giving him easy recovery capacity and transitioning ability.
- Can offset defenders when zone blocking and then rotate around and gather them in stride.
- Employs active footwork and a wide base in pass protection and can keep synergy.
- Naturally rolls his base to absorb power and can suffocate with his anchor strength.
- Active pre-snap communicator who can quickly pick up stunts and blitz threats.
- Processes looping rushers instantly and can just as quickly re-anchor with his hands.
- Has shown he can gather rushers with incredibly fast and violent independent strikes.
- Will shock opponents at contact with violent volleys and finish defenders into the turf.
Weaknesses
- Doesn’t have elite mass, and his length appears to be close to average.
- Non-elite length sometimes prevents him from sustaining power exertions.
- Can be out-reached by longer linemen who can exert power inside his frame.
- Core strength isn’t elite, as stronger DL can wrench him off-balance when anchored.
- Can be knocked upright by initial contact and exposes his torso to LBs at times.
- Energy can be a double-edged sword with overshot angles and unstable pad levels.
- Occasionally leads with his shoulders and lurches when turning upfield on the move.
- Sometimes halts his feet when picking up stunts, making him susceptible to power.
- Occasionally extends before his base is set and can struggle to reload and recalibrate.
- Technique and efficiency when reloading hands still have room to improve.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Van Pran grades out as a top-75 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft on my board.
He’s one of the top natural center prospects in the class and would be a superb addition anywhere in the Day 2 range.
Ever since 2021, Van Pran has been Georgia’s full-time starter at the center position, and he’s proven to not only be an absolute tone-setter but also an important cohesion agent for the unit. Those are qualities he’ll provide at the next level as well.
At 6’4″, 310 pounds, Van Pran is compact, powerful, and incredibly explosive, with the flexibility to recover positioning, generate torque, and seal off lanes in the run game. He’s a people-mover in that phase, but he’s also an incredibly alert and combative pass blocker.
Even with his abundance of experience, Van Pran can still keep refining his hand usage, and while his leverage maintenance has greatly improved since 2021, there are still lapses on tape. The biggest question mark for Van Pran, however, is how he’ll deal with NFL power.
Just as one of Van Pran’s strengths is channeling power, one of his biggest weaknesses is absorbing it. He frequently exposes himself to power and loses his balance and pad-level advantage when faced with opposing forces, and he’s not yet adept at preventing displacement at the center of the line.
Nevertheless, getting stronger and continuing to work on leverage should help Van Pran grow in that area, and on a broad scale, he has high-end explosiveness, football IQ, and tenacity worth banking on. He can be an impact starter as a run blocker early in his NFL career, and he has a Pro Bowl upside with more pass-blocking development.
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