There’s an abundance of talent in the 2024 NFL Draft offensive tackle class, but Alabama’s JC Latham is one of the most imposing players in the mix. What makes Latham’s scouting report so compelling, and what kind of impact can he provide at the NFL level?
JC Latham’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’5 3/4″
- Weight: 342 pounds
- Length: 35 1/8″
- Wingspan: 84 3/8″
- Hand: 11″
- Position: Offensive Tackle
- School: Alabama
- Current Year: Junior
Some prospects have winding and unpredictable paths to the NFL Draft circuit. Latham is not one of those prospects.
Latham was a five-star recruit and the top tackle in the 2021 class. By his true sophomore season, he was a full-time starter at right tackle. After the 2023 campaign, he earned first-team All-SEC honors.
Right on schedule, Latham is eligible for the 2024 NFL Draft. As many expected, he’s in line to be a first-round pick, and he could go off the board inside the first 20 selections when it’s all said and done.
JC Latham, a powerhouse Offensive Tackle, is primed to anchor the line for his future NFL team. With his size, strength, and technique, he’s a force to be reckoned with in both pass protection and run blocking. #RTR 🐘 #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/YFZRe1CKk7
— GoatHouseBama (@GoatHouseBama) April 23, 2024
At just 21 years old, Latham has the pedigree and the production against SEC competition. As his report details, he has the physical profile and the intangible qualities to be just as impactful at the NFL level.
Latham’s Scouting Report
Strengths
- Massive specimen with a rare mix of overarching frame density, length, and width.
- Explodes off the snap with violent energy, surging into contact with powerful lower half.
- Boasts elite explosive capacity, swift lateral mobility, and high-energy motion.
- Possesses elite power capacity, plowing defenders out of the frame as a run blocker.
- Can use his length and mass to supplement power through applied torque and rotation.
- Has a dominating anchor once he latches onto rushers, stalling out power with his base.
- Has very natural knee bend and leverage acquisition in pass protection for his size.
- Patient, disciplined, and synergetic pass protector with an excellent sense of timing.
- Plays with a steady center of gravity and consistently aligns his base effectively.
- Has enough hip flexibility to swivel around in recovery and envelop with his frame.
- Pass sets are incredibly clean and consistent, quick, and controlled with footwork tempo.
- Knows how to modulate his footwork and angle his base to seal off rushing paths.
- Re-loads and re-exerts with lashing quickness and can anticipate and combat counters.
- Alert blocker with great angle IQ, stunt awareness, and reaction speed to counters.
- With aggressive, adversarial mentality, exudes hostility toward defenders through reps.
Weaknesses
- Can be a bit lumbering at times when opening his strides moving in space.
- Doesn’t quite have elite range as a pulling blocker or second-level mover.
- Can’t always fully rotate and flip his hips to seal out second-level defenders in space.
- Occasionally overextends and lurches beyond center of gravity when attacking up-field.
- Doesn’t always bring his feet with him on run blocks, which can also cause him to lurch.
- Can be baited into setting too far vertically and opening his torso to opposing power.
- Sometimes drifts too far vertically with his set angle, allowing lanes for inside counters.
- Can be worked off balance by rushers who tug at his anchor and stress laterally.
- Sometimes bearhugs opponents when forced to recover, creating penalty risk.
- Motor occasionally fades out in space at the second level.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Latham grades out as a top-20 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft class and a top-five offensive tackle. He’s worth mid-first-round capital, and especially for teams in need of a natural right tackle with dual-sided pass- and run-blocking appeal, he holds plenty of merit.
Latham doesn’t grade quite as highly as Notre Dame’s Joe Alt or Penn State’s Olu Fashanu, and other prospects like Taliese Fuaga and Troy Fautanu may have more schematic versatility, but Latham has all of the tools to be an exceptional two-phase starter with a tone-setting edge.
There isn’t a tackle in the stacked 2024 class who can generate the kind of push and displacement that Latham can, both with his power drive and his rotational torque. Not only is Latham extremely explosive and forceful, but he’s also incredibly well-leveraged. For a 6’6″ blocker, he’s extremely natural at reaching the proper pad level and loading his base.
Latham moves people on the ground — plain and simple. And while that’s where most of his highlight reps rest, he’s also a very good pass protector. Balance against counters can be an issue at times, but overall, he’s a smooth, patient, and disciplined blocker with suffocating grip strength once he anchors.
KEEP READING: Ranking the 2024 NFL Draft’s Top Tackles
As if all this isn’t enough, Latham’s tone-setting mentality seals the deal. He’s a high-energy competitor who exudes physicality off the snap and will finish defenders into the turf if they give up leverage or lose balance — rag-dolling opponents into submission with his elite power.
The bottom line is this: Latham has the talent, mentality, technical competence, natural feel for leverage, and dominating two-phase ability to be an impact starter in the mold of Marcus McNeill. At his peak, he can be a Pro Bowl and All-Pro talent.
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