The Rashawn Slater hype train gained steam in 2019 when he did a great job in his limited snaps against Ohio State’s stud pass rusher Chase Young. Since then Slater has only gotten better, showing his quickness and technique that allows him to consistently beat defensive linemen.

Strengths: 

  • Very Quick and Agile

Rashawn Slater isn’t quite the biggest offensive linemen but he more than makes up for it with his elite quickness. He gets out of his stance and gets to the second level incredibly fast, and he is also very agile when changing directions up field.

  • Baits Rushers On the Edge

Rashawn Slater is certainly a very technically refined player and one of the things that makes him so great is the way that he pretty much baits pass rushers to try and beat him off the edge. He doesn’t gain too much ground backward making sure he’s rarely beat inside and it makes trying to beat off the edge look appealing, but Slater is ready for it and easily chokes off the angle completely destroying the rush.

  • Amazing Footwork

Slater does a very good job with his footwork. His kick slide is very consistent and he does a great job pulling off the aforementioned maneuver to have inside leverage while still being incredibly prepared for the move off the edge, and it all starts with his footwork and just how well it allows him to position himself.

  • Gets To Second Level in Run Game

Because of how quick Rashawn Slater is he does a great job getting to the second level off the run game. He’s also incredibly agile which allows him to get to multiple guys.

  • Can Play Anywhere on the Line

Rashawn Slater has incredible versatility to play any position on the offensive line. He’s played both tackle positions in college and he has the skill set to kick into guard as well. 

Weaknesses: 

  • Short Arm Length

Rashawn Slater does not have the ideal arm length to play the offensive tackle position which is why some have proposed moving him in to guard. Personally I think he loses quite a bit of his value at guard especially with his ability to beat rushers on the outside being one of his biggest strengths, so I’d certainly test him at tackle and then kick him in to guard if the length is a factor in poor play at tackle.

  • Below Average Functional Strength

Rashawn Slater isn’t exactly the biggest guy in the world so his functional strength isn’t great. His anchor could definitely be better than it is although he understands leverage so he’s rarely off balance. In the run game he doesn’t quite finish and better players will eventually be able to disengage if the issue persists. Another issue that persists because of his low strength is that he doesn’t get much pop in his punches which really limits how effective his great hand placement can be.

Player Comp: I doubt he’ll be the caliber of player as his player comp since my comparison for him is one of the best to ever do it but athletically and stylistically Slater and Terron Armstead are very similar. Both are smaller guys for offensive tackles, who have incredible foot speed and are very consistent with their footwork. Both guys understand leverage well and get to the second level of the run game. Terron Armstead had similar issues with his functional strength being called into question coming out of college but it certainly got better after he came into the NFL. Slater’s arms being inch shorter could be the difference between him playing guard and Armstead playing tackle. 

Final Thoughts: There has been a lot of buzz as of late on Rashawn Slater and many have moved him all the way into the Top 10 of their draft boards with some having him over Penei Sewell as OL1 and I certainly am not that high on Rashawn Slater. I still think he’s going to a guy who’s definitely worth taking in the middle of Round 1 though. Because of how quick he is he definitely fits best on a zone blocking team, and his versatility would be best utilized on a team that would also be willing to play him at guard if tackle doesn’t work out. I think the Chargers are a great fit because they fit all of the requirements just listed, with them being a zone blocking that has a pretty big need at LT, and they also don’t have the strongest IOL so if tackle doesn’t work out they could certainly move him there.