Zeitler's Scouting Report

[RS12]

Very long read so I just posted the summary if you have time check the link, this guy is the real deal.

Ever wonder what a real scouting report looks like? This look at Kevin Zeitler is provided courtesy of NFL Draft Report's Dave-Te' Thomas. Here is his official biography, game-by-game highlights, statistical comparisons with his peers in the 2011 and 2012 drafts, and much, much more.

2011 Update…Zeitler has very good base strength and quickness, leading to his team’s success in scoring when using him as a lead blocks on traps and pulls. He has loose hips and a strong upper body frame, along with ideal anchor ability for a guard. He fits all the intangibles you look for in an interior blocker, as his adequate arm length is not really suited for him playing tackle at the next level. He is one of the best draft eligible prospects in getting into the second level, where he consistently delivers the cut-offs and chip blocks needed to impact the ground game. He plays with a flat back, along with good lateral quickness at the line of scrimmage. On in-line blocks, he will fight and finish his pancake blocks, then, play off his man to find a secondary target to attack. He has a strong hand punch and quick placement, as he keeps his shoulders square on double teams and combo blocks. With his leg drive, low pad level and punch, he has no problems rooting out level-one defenders and good instincts, along with quick change of direction agility to get to the back-side linebackers and blitzers in pass protection. He stays on his feet executing the trap block and plays with good toughness and knee bend moving down the line. You can see his ability to get depth with vertical sets in fan protection, where he easily drops his weight and anchors.

Compares To LOGAN MANKINS-New England…Like Mankins, Zeitler has had great success as a drive blocker the last two years, but he is also a very effective pass blocker, evident by the team’s marked improvement with their aerial game in 2011. He is a tough second level stalker with above average quickness and athletic ability for a down lineman. His continued success during his senior year, if followed by a dominant performance in the Senior Bowl, will make him one of the first guards to hear his name called in April 2012 (NFL Draft).

http://gnb.scout.com/2/1175432.html

 

[Risen Star]

Yeah, he's a beast. I waffle between him and Silatolu on who I favor more. I'd be thrilled with either in the 2nd round, should we be so lucky.

 

[Cowboy from New York]

Hear Kirwan and Tim talking about him on SIRIUS. Didnt knock him. Just stated he was a "is what he is" type. Meaning he is a plug and play. Plays well in phone booth but not good in space and would not develop as such. With Garrett liking the screen play maybe not what we are looking for?

 

[Yuma Cactus]

He was abused during the Senior Bowl practices and looked like he didn't belong. May have just been a bad week.

 

[RS12]

Yeah, he's a beast. I waffle between him and Silatolu on who I favor more. I'd be thrilled with either in the 2nd round, should we be so lucky.

At the top of the list of things to like about him besides his ability, is they dont come anymore intense. That is certainly one thing this team is short on.

 

[RS12]

Hear Kirwan and Tim talking about him on SIRIUS. Didnt knock him. Just stated he was a "is what he is" type. Meaning he is a plug and play. Plays well in phone booth but not good in space and would not develop as such. With Garrett liking the screen play maybe not what we are looking for?

Scouting report says otherwise. You should see how this guy graded out week after week. Incredible his average was like 97.5%. they broke it down game by game over the last two years. His short area work at the combine was second only to DeCastro.

 

[a_minimalist]

I hope kiper is right with Barron in the first and Zeitler in the second then.

 

[Eskimo]

I hope kiper is right with Barron in the first and Zeitler in the second then.

There are 3 really good OG prospects in the second who could easily go in the first round in seasons with less depth. Zeitler, Silatolu and Brandon Brooks all have first round ability and physical skills. Zeitler is the safest and most ready because he came from the biggest program. Brooks is the best athlete and is a rapidly improving player according to Bunting so he may be a bit of a late bloomer. Silatolu came from inferior competition in Div II so you figure he'll need a bit of time to adjust to the NFL.

If we pick Barron I hope there is a trade down involved so we can pick up an extra 3rd rounder. We need to grab a CB and OLB in the first 3 rounds, too.

 

[a_minimalist]

If we pick Barron I hope there is a trade down involved so we can pick up an extra 3rd rounder. We need to grab a CB and OLB in the first 3 rounds, too.

That would be ideal but it seems to be growing more and more unlikely that Barron will be around after the 20th pick.

For the record, I still prefer DeCastro as our 1st round pick.

 

[Eskimo]

That would be ideal but it seems to be growing more and more unlikely that Barron will be around after the 20th pick.

For the record, I still prefer DeCastro as our 1st round pick.

After the first 8 players in the draft I really don't think there is too much difference between the middle of the 1st round and the middle of the 2nd round (Luck, RG3, Tannehill, Richardson, Claiborne, Kalill, Coples, Ingram).

There are three players in that range that are head and shoulders above all the others but I don't think any of them are major prizes for us:

Barron - safety is usually not an impact position and he will not be an impact player

Kuechly - we already have 3 young ILBs on the rosther so we're not going to spend a first rounder here.

Fleener - we are not going to spend a first rounder on a TE while Witten is still playing at a very high level.

Our strategy should be to sequentially trade down into the meat of the draft in the 2nd to 4th rounds. We could potentially convert our first rounder into two second rounders and two third rounders if we want to keep all the picks in the same draft. Then we would have 3 second rounders, 3 third rounders and 2 fourth rounders.

Using the previous PFW chart someone had out there I would try and get the following players:

2a. Kevin Zeitler or Brandon Brooks or Amini Silatolu
2b. Jared Crick
2c. Casey Heyward
3a. Bruce Irvin
3b. Brandon Boykin
3c. Michael Egnew
4a. Ryan Broyles or Joe Adams
4b. Jake Bequette

I think all of these players could make our roster and become early contributors and strengthen our trenches, return game and add some youth to skill positions. We add an interior OL who can start right away, 2 DEs who can pass rush, 1 OLB, 1 athletic TE, 1 slot WR/PR and 2 CBs.

My preferred strategy is still to trade down with the intention of getting an extra second rounder, third rounder and a first rounder for next year with our first rounder.

 

[TheCount]

I think he's a bit overrated frankly and doesn't have much upside.

 

[SDogo]

Dave-Te' Thomas is one of the best, weird looking SOB but one of the best.

You all got a treat there. Really take a look at that. It's not often if ever a scout takes the time to do this and releases it to the general public. You only typically get bits and pieces of it.

You can see how much work goes into it. Besides the hours upon days of tape work, face to face time, live game review and correspondence that write up probably took a good week.

It's the reason scouts know how to use PTO and dont often successfully manage a family. It's sooooooooo time consuming.

 

[cowboysooner]

In every clip I see that is a highlight reel for Konz, Zeitler looks like the better player. His blocking of NFL level defensive tackles for several years is something DeCastro does not have and it is the most important thing a guard does. I'm not saying DeCastro can't do it, but he has not had to do it week to week because the PAC is light on quality defensive tackles. Zeitler moves big guys when he is nose to nose with them.

I'd love to get him at 45 and make him my center for 10 years. I like Silatu as well, but he was a guy that had trouble with school. He may turn into a fine player but the best offensive linemen are generally smart guys.

 

[cowboysooner]

He was abused during the Senior Bowl practices and looked like he didn't belong. May have just been a bad week.

Wow. I did not see a ton of the Senior Bowl practices but that surprises me. Yuma, do you recall the guys that were beating him?

I did see Coples and Glenn toying with people. Those 2 can just kill people when they decide to do it.

 

[InmanRoshi]

That's a really impressive write up. His game footage is really impressive. Wouldn't mind him at all in the 2nd round. This is good company...

100 percent
In 1985, The NFL Draft Report began using a complicated and in-depth grading system to evaluate an offensive lineman’s performance on the football field. The grading is based on several areas of the lineman’s performance and during the course of the last three decades, attaining that “perfect score,” a 100 percent mark in a game, has been attained by only a handful of elite performers.

In 2011, one of the “rarest of rare” occurrences took place, a lineman grading 100 percent in a game more than once in the same season. Wisconsin offensive guard Kevin Zeitler attained that “perfect score” in the Indiana and Penn State contests. He joins Larry Allen of Division II Sonoma State (in 1993 vs. Cal-State Hayward and San Francisco State) and Southern California’s Tony Boselli (in 1994 vs. Baylor, California and Arizona) as the only players in college annals (since blocking consistency grades were compiled by The NFL Draft Report beginning in 1985) to post more than one 100 percent blocking performance in the same season.

Only four other lineman, all at the major college level, have graded 100 percent for blocking consistency more than once in a career. Those that reached that level of excellence are offensive guard Will Shield of Nebraska (vs. Kansas in 1991 and Oklahoma in 1992), offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden of UCLA (vs. Arizona State in 1994 and Miami in 1995), offensive tackle Orlando Pace of Ohio State (vs. Indiana in 1995 and Pittsburgh in 1996) and offensive tackle Jake Long of Michigan (vs. Michigan State in 2006 and Minnesota in 2006).

Zeitler is just the fourth Wisconsin Badger to record a blocking consistency grade of 100 percent in any contest. Other UW linemen to reach that level of excellence were offensive tackles Paul Gruber (vs. Ball State in 1987), Aaron Gibson (vs. Illinois in 1998) and Joe Thomas (vs. Buffalo in 2006).

 

[Idgit]

That's an insane amount of work for a single player.

 

[cowboysooner]

That's an insane amount of work for a single player.

I'm sure only the top 100 player will get that type of in depth report. Say a scout makes 100K (which is generous even for a national scout). It takes him a week to put that together. The cost is only about $2,000 for that report plus travel expenses and background checks guesstimated at $2,500. The team is going to invest $10mm for a 1st round pick or 3-4 million for a 2nd plus the intangible asset of the draft choice. Personally, I think most if not all organizations have underfunded and undermanned scouting divisions, especially in the day of $5 million head coaches and $1million coordinators and oline coaches.

Then there are the Bengals with 1 scout and an owner GM and they have been doing about as good as anybody in the first 3 or 4 rounds by just taking hyped guys in the 1st, character risks in the 2nd-3rd, and combine measurables after that.

 

[Gaede]

I love Zeitler. My favourite lineman in this draft. He is so underrated it's ridiculous.

Great write up. Love that all his games are graded above 90%. And his best competition, Still, had zero tackles and Zeitler had a perfect score.

Love this from his run blocking profile:

2011 Update-Nobody, repeat, nobody in college football has had the success that Zeitler has shown leading the way on sweeps around the corners (see 2011 UNLV, Oregon State, Northern Illinois, both Michigan State games, Purdue and Penn State contests)

 

[Idgit]

I love Zeitler. My favourite lineman in this draft. He is so underrated it's ridiculous.

Great write up.

I"m not knocking Zeitler at all, here, but reading this:

Bill Nagy opened the 2010 campaign at Zeitler’s normal right guard spot, but when Nagy shifted to center, Zeitler “made up for lost time” when he started the final nine contests. He dominated the action in the trenches, as the UW Badger Power Award (weight room dedication) and Academic All-Big Ten Conference choice added first-team All-Big Ten honors (The NFL Draft Report), as he registered 100 key blocks/knockdowns and paved the way for 19 of the team’s touchdown drives.

Reminds me how close the line is between some of these players. If the UW coaches had him behind our 2010 7th rounder as recently as last year, that gives you a pretty good indication what a team's up against when trying to evaluate how good a college player is likely to be relative to the players we already have on our roster. How much of an upgrade can Zeitler be, really, over Bill Nagy with a year in the system and a full offseason in an NFL weight-room if the players were comparable at UW?

 

[cowboysooner]

I"m not knocking Zeitler at all, here, but reading this:



Reminds me how close the line is between some of these players. If the UW coaches had him behind our 2010 7th rounder as recently as last year, that gives you a pretty good indication what a team's up against when trying to evaluate how good a college player is likely to be relative to the players we already have on our roster. How much of an upgrade can Zeitler be, really, over Bill Nagy with a year in the system and a full offseason in an NFL weight-room if the players were comparable at UW?

That is a very good point. And Nagy was moved to Center because Konz was in the tub in 2010. And 2011.