Chandler Zavala 2023 NFL Draft profile: Scout report for the N.C. State IOL
Chandler Zavala, N.C. State
6’5”, 325 pounds; RS SR
Once a walk-on at Fairmont State in 2017, Zavala gained 60 pounds over his first year on campus and started 21 games between left and right guard, before transferring to the ACC ahead of the 2020 season – which he unfortunately ended up missing due to needing back surgery. In the last two years, he’s been able to get onto the national radar, as he started all 17 games he was available for the Wolfpack at LG. In 2022 he was named a first-team All-ACC selection.
+ Well-built guard with tremendous football IQ to recognize defensive fronts and late movement, being able to choose and adjust angles accordingly
+ Provides great lateral movement in the wide zone run game, being able to cover up bodies and keep riding them by running his feet through
+ Packs the strong upper body to torque interior linemen and open up lanes effectively, as you regularly see the back cut it up behind him for good yardage
+ When defenders try to stay square to the front-side tackle, Zavala will deliver a rib-shot to get that guy bumped over to the outside
+ Brings some good oomph with that inside arm on combos with one of his fellow linemen and rides the down-linemen into the backer a few times basically, so he can just peel off at the end
+ Very controlled on the second level, to not overshoot his marks or allow linebackers to side-step him – Seems to ride backers off track on the front-side of zone runs every single time
+ Quickly and tightly works around his fellow linemen on skip and wrap-around pulls
+ Recognizes when designated kick-out defenders are shifted too far inside and he can bring his hips around to allow the ball-carrier to work around them
+ Effectively pushes defenders up the field and releases in the screen game
+ Quick out of his stance to get his square up interior rushers in pass-pro, while keeping his hands and feet in sync
+ Keeps a tight grip and solid base in protection, while letting defenders get off balance themselves
+ You see him widen his feet and really sit back in his stance against powerful rushers, where his cleats really “eat” a lot of turf consistently in order to allow him to absorb force
+ Effectively utilizes one-handed stabs, to take charge off interior rushers and throw them off kilter
+ Continues to slide his feet with consistent distance between them, to mirror the guy across from him and not allow him to get to the edges of his frame
+ Plus then he has a knack for feeling the guys he’s engaged with shifting weight too far to one side, which he tosses them down to the turf for
+ Shows plus awareness and ability to sort through twists and games on the interior
+ Didn’t allow a single sack and just one QB hit across 615 pass-blocking snaps with N.C. State (seven hurries)
+ Surprised a lot of people with an excellent pro day showing (after getting snubbed by the combine), with a 5.01 in the 40, a 32.5-inch vert, a 4.53 in the short shuttle, a 7.56 three-cone drill and 30 reps on the bench press – that amounts to a 9.9 RAS score
– May not quite have the explosion and short-area agility out of his stance to consistently scoop up aggressive shade nose-tackles at the NFL level
– Not the most graceful mover when he’s asked to get out into space in the screen game and overall his ability to latch the hands onto targets gets worse the further the distance is he has to cover first
– Tends to lean too far into rushers late in plays and allows them to slip off him
– Has only played in 17 total games across the past three seasons, missing all of 2020 due to needing surgery on his back, and even when available all of last year, he left a couple of contests I watched due to getting banged up
Zavala is one of the smartest, most consistent offensive line prospects in this draft. Listening to him talk about blocking rules and the intricacies of the position during an interview with the boys from the Bootleg Football podcast, that commitment to his craft confirmed everything I saw on tape. I believe the further he gets away from the line of scrimmage, the less effective he becomes as a blocker and he has that tendency late into pass-plays, to allow rushers to get by him. With that being said, especially for a zone-based system, he’s probably a solid starter from the first day he steps onto the field and could be a fixture in the lineup for a decade. Zavala had an outstanding East-West Shrine practice week, with several highly impressive reps of shutting down interior rushers during one-on-ones, and never really seemed to get out of control in the run game.
Grade: Third round
Feel free to head over to halilsrealfootballtalk.com for all my draft breakdowns and check out my YouTube channel for even more NFL content!