Get to know the giant offensive tackle called Little.
As we roll into February, draft season is in full swing with the NFL Combine in Indianapolis just a few weeks away. The Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama has come and gone, as well, with new names rising up draft boards while others may be finding themselves falling or staying a bit too stagnant for their liking.
Here at Bolts From The Blue, we are chomping at the bit to get the gears turning on our own draft coverage where we hope to bring you the content you deserve and the content you yearn for while maintaining the tightest coverage on what the Bolts are doing through the months leading up to the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville, TN.
To satifsy some of your smaller cravings for draft content, I hope to put out a number of short-and-sweet draft profiles to get you all up to date on draft prospects you should be aware of that could potentially don the bolt this year and for years to come.
First up is Ole Miss’ Greg Little, a massive offensive tackle that could be the answer to the team’s needs at the right tackle spot opposite Russell Okung.
At 6-foot-6 and 325 pounds, no one needs to ask what position Little is best suited for. It still amuses me that we get to right about such a large player with the such an oxymoron for a last name.
The former 5-star recruit and top-ranked offensive line recruit in the country came to Oxford, Mississippi by way of Allen High School, the perennial powerhouse down in the heart of Texas. He was also the number two recruit in the entire country by Scout and ESPN.
As a true freshmen, Little played in every game during his first year on campus with five starts. That year, the Rebels possessed the 13th-ranked passing offense in the country (314.9 yds/game) and allowed the fewest tackles-for-loss per game (4.67). For his efforts, he was named a Freshman All-American by Rivals.com and a Freshman All-SEC first team selection.
In his sophomore campaign, Little started all 12 games at left tackles and was named a second-team All-SEC selection by the AP and the Coaches. Prior to the season, NFL.com named him the 31st-best player in college football.
In 2018, after being placed on numerous preseason All-American teams, Little helped protect senior quarterback Jordan Ta’amu as he got to chuck the ball around to the best wide receiver trio in the country.
Little lived up to almost all of his preseason hype as he was named a first-team All-Sec selection and a second-team All-American pick by numerous publications, including the FWAA, CBS Sports, and Phil Steele.
Greg Little declares for the 2019 NFL Draft after a strong season in pass protectionhttps://t.co/a5u9MpNuy9 pic.twitter.com/PT6aq0pNVD
— PFF College (@PFF_College) December 11, 2018
The former top prospect was definitely a work-in-progress and it showed during his first two years at Ole Miss. No matter his shortcomings, Little’s God-given physical talents are the types of things you cannot coach. When you throw on the tape, your first thought is, “a man that large shouldn’t be able to move like that.”
His fundamentals, footwork, hand-technique, it was all sushi-raw in the beginning. But thankfully, he took the biggest, and most necessary leap with his technique between the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
In my opinion, he has always known that his capabilities are above those around him, but it looked like he finally realized how to utilize his elite tools in his true junior season. His strong powerful hands are much more refined and are able to find his mark on the defender’s breastplate at a much higher rate. The power behind his palms is something to be seen, too. He looks like he salivates at the chance to down block interior linemen with the way he shoots off that line and into the ear hole of the pour soul.
Ole Miss LT Greg Little showing some power in his punch to knock down the DT #NFLDraft #OleMiss pic.twitter.com/TCme4Zpntt
— Brian Johannes (@Draft_Brian) May 31, 2018
His combination of size and athleticism seems like a natural fit in the Chargers offense. His movement skills make him an easy fit in the multiple-run scheme that Lynn loves to use while giving the Chargers a looming presence with enough agility to handle some of the elite edge rushers that call the AFC West home.
While looking around at a number of mock drafts, there is a real chance that Little finds himself available at the end of the first round. With Alabama’s Jonah Williams, Florida’s Jawaan Taylor, and Oklahoma’s Cody Ford gaining some steam at this point of the off-season, and the plethora of defensive linemen aiming to go early on day one, Little could easily fall to the Chargers as an afterthought to the rest of the league.
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