TCU’s Brandon Coleman isn’t always discussed as one of the top interior offensive line prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft, but he has the scouting report to be a high-quality starter at his peak.
What does Coleman bring to the table, and how can he reach that ceiling?
Brandon Coleman Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’4 1/4″
- Weight: 316 pounds
- Length: 34 1/4″
- Wingspan: 83 12″
- Hand: 10 5/8″
- Position: Offensive Lineman
- School: TCU
- Current Year: Redshirt Senior
Coleman has an incredibly unique backstory. He was born in Virginia, but lived in Berlin, Germany, for most of his childhood, with his father being stationed overseas. There, he played travel basketball. Ironically, he was a guard at the time, but with a very different skill set.
In 2016, Coleman returned to the United States and picked up football at Denton High School in Texas. A tryout led to him joining the defensive line on the junior varsity team. As a senior, Coleman got his first full-time action on the offensive line with the varsity.
Because he started playing football so late, Coleman didn’t have much interest out of high school, so he began his collegiate career at Trinity Valley CC in Athens, Texas. But after just one year of play, he caught the eye of the TCU Horned Frogs, who signed him as a three-star JUCO recruit in 2020.
A season-ending injury suffered after just four games limited Coleman’s impact in 2020, but he worked his way back and started eight games in 2021, working both guard spots.
In 2022, Coleman shifted to left tackle and protected Max Duggan’s blind side across the entire campaign. Then, 2023 saw Coleman shift between left tackle and left guard, allowing only one sack on 723 pass protection snaps.
He was not only a team captain, but also a second-team All-Big 12 honoree, earning a trip to the Reese’s Senior Bowl with his play.
One of my guys in this class that I would love to bet on at the end of day two and especially early day three is Brandon Coleman. As most know by now, the 2022 tape was better than 2023, but at his best there are shades of Cordy Glenn.
From my recent 'My guys' article 👇 pic.twitter.com/FFeWigPWBs
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) April 20, 2024
Just over a half-decade into his football career, Coleman has already shown off exciting potential. And his athleticism is no secret. In the summer of 2023, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman listed Coleman as one of his Freaks — citing a 35″ vertical and a 600-pound squat.
Nevertheless, how does one quantify Coleman’s upside on tape? That’s what we’re here to discuss.
Coleman’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Has an excellent combination of natural leverage and length, and has mitts for hands.
- High-energy athlete with fast feet off snaps, but can also control his tempo and rhythm.
- Shows glimpses of high-level explosive capacity when throttling up to attack in space.
- Flashes impressive gap-to-gap range as a puller, using high stride frequency to traverse.
- Length and hands allow him to carry heavy swatting power on his punches.
- Has excellent torquing and rotational freedom, which he uses to finish reps.
- Uses length, base load, and rotational torque to apply power in devastating bursts.
- Instinctive leverage player who can play with knee bend and sustain proper pad level.
- Uses steady footwork to play square to rushers and manage depth and positioning.
- Shows glimpses of surgical precision and timing with initial punches in pass protection.
- Has flashed the ability to gather rushers with successive, violent solo punches.
- Can latch inside the torso while keeping a wide base and rolling back to anchor.
- Able to process stunts and torque through defenders as they work across-face.
- Has great baseline physicality, and channels that in his hand strikes.
- Started 34 games in college, with extensive experience at both tackle and guard.
Weaknesses
- With his wider, stockier frame, doesn’t quite have elite hinge flexibility in recovery.
- Could be more consistent in sustaining his pace and foot speed later in reps.
- With high-energy motion, is sometimes baited into wasting steps by speed rushers.
- Can be baited into bending at the waist and lurching when needing to recover ground.
- Has a harder time maintaining leverage as a moving blocker, at times drifting upright.
- Can whiff with hand placement on moving blocks, and struggles to sustain in space.
- Needs to keep hands tighter and break down quicker as a space blocker to drive power.
- At times, halts his feet at contact, which can stall power drive even with positioning.
- Sometimes gets caught and slows his feet when latching on rushers with outside paths.
- Sometimes drifts back slightly too far when anchoring, exposing himself to push-pulls.
- Still developing as a hand fighter and is mainly reliant on two-hand extensions.
- Imprecise two-hand extensions can cause him to lurch and lock out his hips.
- Has experimented with a snatch-and-trap, but hands need to be quicker overall.
- Can improve his snap timing, which can in turn help with his recovery quickness.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Coleman grades out as a top-100 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft on my board. He’s worth consideration in the mid-to-late Day 2 range as a high-end developmental starter with ability at both tackle and guard. On Day 3, he can be an absolute steal.
There’s no size argument forcing Coleman inside to guard from tackle, where he started the majority of his games at TCU. At around 6’4″, 316 pounds, with over 34″ arms, he has the size and length of a tackle, with stellar short-area energy and explosiveness as an athlete.
For Coleman, a prospective move inside is more about mitigating his weaknesses and areas for improvement while magnifying what he does best. He excels when he uses his lateral mobility to stay square to pass rushers and keeps them inside his frame. And he can use his length to levy violent punches and gather in phase.
Meanwhile, as a run blocker, Coleman flashes exciting range and freedom of motion when he gets out in space, and he acquires initial leverage very well. Coleman can still improve at sustaining leverage through reps and maximizing drive, but all of the physical tools are there to dominate second-level defenders.
MORE: Top iOL in the 2024 NFL Draft
Coleman is still relatively fresh in his football career, and it sometimes shows. He’s still developing consistency as a hand-fighter past two-hand extensions, as well as finding more ways to channel his athleticism through the entire duration of reps.
Nevertheless, Coleman already has an abundance of collegiate starting experience and a solid foundation as a versatile T/G depth piece. He has legitimate tackle capabilities and will always provide security there, but his ceiling is even higher at guard.
With his natural leverage acquisition, high-octane athleticism, complete power profile, strength, and ability to stay square, Coleman can be an early NFL starter at guard, and he has true scheme-versatile impact-starter upside if he can build on his foundation.
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