Draft Profile: Justin Blalock

The NFL Draft is this weekend, where the future hopes and dreams of young men will be determined. The draft has become a giant event, thanks to the marketing machine that is the NFL. There already is around the clock coverage with projections, analysis, and of course, upside. While Chris Berman will let you know what will happen seconds before it actually does, we figure we should get you ready for what you will see. So you're prepared for, well, for the upside.

There’s no man you’d rather have in the trenches than Justin Blalock. At 6’4” and 329 lbs, Blalock was a force in the Texas running game for all four years as a starter. He is in the mold of top powerful lineman coming out of Texas in recent years. He had an extremely successful four years at Texas and for the most part was injury free.

He has good size and good athleticism. He showed good speed at workouts and has a mean streak that makes him an asset in the running game. He also has the ability to play guard or tackle, though he projects as a guard at the next level. He projects with a lot of upside as he currently relies on his athleticism and natural ability and needs to work on his technique. This is reflected in the fact that he is a better run blocker than pass blocker.

Some have him rated as the top offensive guard in the draft and he could go anywhere from late first round, to early to mid second round, to a team like the Atlanta Falcons who would love to add a powerful run blocker to the mix. He has a very high ceiling due to the fact that there’s still room for improvement on his technique.