Ole Miss offensive lineman Greg Little is a solid prospect with a high ceiling. Regardless of where he lands, what exactly will NFL teams get from Little?
Most mock draft experts have Greg Little as their second overall offensive lineman in the upcoming 2019 NFL Draft. Little is currently behind Alabama’s Jonah Williams. Both of them will participate in the 2019 NFL Combine, where Little will have to perform well to keep his current status as a top prospect.
In this article, I will use the film to analyze Little’s strengths and weaknesses his final season at Ole Miss. We will look at his pass blocking, effort, pad level, and run blocking.
Pass Blocking
As stated earlier, Little is rated the second offensive lineman in a defensive heavy draft. Although he excels at pass blocking, Little poses weaknesses that could be exploited at the next level.
In these two quick clips, we see that Little has a great slide and keeps his hands within the chest plate. Little is not too aggressive and prevents defenders from swimming or powering through him. He has great footwork here as he does not cross his feet and keep them just outside of shoulders length.
In the first two clips, we notice Little is a fairly strong pass blocker.
In the first clip, Little did a decent job against the outside rush, but his footwork disappears. Little has problems against speed rushers who are capable of using spin and bull rush moves that put him on his heels. He also struggles against the push-pull move. This is when a defender pushes the lineman then keeps his hands on him and pulls him before slipping by the offensive lineman. This comes to light in the second video.
Lastly, Little recognizes the source of blitzes and pressure. Having said that, he falls back on his heels and often looks taken aback by quicker defenders off the line.
Effort
Effort may be his biggest red flag. Little tends to take plays off when he is either tired or when he knows the play won’t go his way. General managers and scouts will make a note of this. Defenses will also pick up on this in film and use it against him. This has to be fixed if Little wants to develop into a high-caliber NFL player.
In the clip, Little does not move his feet and chicken wing blocks him with his right arm. A chicken wing block is when you keep your arm in while blocking like you are doing the chicken dance. He doesn’t initiate contact nor reach out and maintain contact.
Pad Level
Overall, Little has a good pad level. In the passing game, he leads his head and hands underneath his opponent’s head and hands and gets right into the chest plate. Little is also able to explode low and drive up into his opponent when needed to. However, on some run plays, he seems to be high on his pad level.
In this video, Little drops his head underneath his opponent’s head and drives him on this run-pass option. However, in the running plays in the next video, he stands up, and it harms him in his run blocking.
Run Blocking
Little’s run blocking is not as strong as his pass protection.
In the first clip, Ole Miss is running a power run to the left in between the guard and tackle. Little is pulling and is quick off the ball and gets to the other side of the line within seconds. However, he stands straight up and seems lost when his running back decides to go straight up field. Little becomes a waste of a blocker instead of going to the second level to block.
In the second clip, Little is very aggressive and jumps right at his opponent. His footwork is off and he reaches to block his opponent. He is off-balanced and the defender throws off the block and pushes Little to the ground. It was a sloppy run block that can be fixed with patience and basic techniques.
Conclusion
Overall, Little has more work to do than his teammate WR A.J. Brown. That said, Little will most likely still be a first round pick since he has less competition at the position. Little can be a good lineman in a few years once he learns the transition to the NFL.