2018 Draft Pre-Season Positional Rankings: Offensive Guard

Written by Christian Lysek

OG Top Ten and First Look:

1. Quenton Nelson, Notre Dame
2. Braden Smith, Auburn
3. Billy Price, Ohio State (shown right)
4. Wyatt Teller, Virginia Tech
5. Martez Ivey, Florida
6. Jake Raulerson, Arkansas
7. Ross Piershbacher, Alabama
8. Will Hernandez, UTEP
9. Tyrone Crowder, Clemson
10. Cody O'Connell, Washington State

Offensive guard might be the most thankless job in the NFL. They must be maulers in the running game and flawless in the passing game, otherwise football fans mercilessly berate them. Fortunately for NFL teams who understand the true value a good guard provides, 2018 seems to be a relatively good year for guards. The class' best prospect in Quenton Nelson from Notre Dame. Nelson is an experienced player (23 starts) and shows an impressive amount of polish for a college player. He is stout in the passing game, is a good athlete, and is a finisher in the running game. Nelson is the total package. Following Nelson is Braden Smith. The Auburn guard has 27 career starts under his belt and has been one of the offenses' best players. In the running game, Smith properly uses angles to keep defenders from making tackles. Against pass rushers, Smith demonstrates good balance and hands to keep defenders away from the quarterback. Billy Price is a brute of a lineman who specializes in the run game. He is very strong and uses that to his advantage in the running and passing game. If he can learn to pick up blitzes and stunts better, he could be a round one player. Wyatt Teller is easily the meanest guard on this list. Teller is a pancake machine who excels in smashing defenders into another dimension. Teller is also surprisingly good in pass protection, he just needs the limit the amount of penalties he gets. Martez Ivey was a 5-star recruit, mostly due to his great size and athleticism. He loses balance too easily and he needs to work on his angles in the running game, but no offensive guard has better physical tools than Ivey.

The next five players are headlined by Jake Raulerson. He was one of the few bright spots on a bad Arkansas offensive line. He does a great job of anchoring against the bull rush in pass protection while ripping open holes in the run game. Ross Piershbacher may not be a great athlete, but you can tell his coaching is impeccable. Piershbacher is a strong player who understands angles, and is a huge reason Bo Scarborough and Damien Harris enjoyed so much success last season. Will Hernandez is a mammoth at 6'3'' and 340 lbs, but he is surprisingly light on his feet for his size. He also shows decent balance and the nastiness needed to succeed in the pros. Tyrone Crowder is a another mammoth at 6'4'' and 340 lbs, and he too is very athletic, especially when asked to pull. He struggles with balance and hand placement, but he has the physical gifts to be successful. Cody O'Connell wins the size war at 6'7'' and 351 lbs, but he faces the same problem USC tackle Zach Banner faced last season: hen is too tall to play guard and too lumbering to play tackle. Still, if he can shed a few pounds, he could be a great asset to NFL teams no matter what position he plays.

Match-ups to Watch:

UTEP vs Oklahoma, September 2nd
UTEP opens their season against Oklahoma, and for NFL scouts, Will Hernandez should be one of the focal points. He should be able to tear open some big holes against the Sooner defense.

Virginia Tech vs Clemson, September 30th
Wyatt Teller will get the ultimate chance to prove himself as he goes against Dexter Lawrence and Christian Wilkins. If he preforms well, the hype train will get full steam.

Clemson vs Florida State, November 11th
Tyrone Crowder is going to have to step up to the plate and face against Derrick Nnadi and the FSU defense. If he preforms well, he will be a high draft pick.

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All stats come from www.sports-refrence.com unless otherwise noted

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