Evan Neal profile: Why the New York Giants drafted the OT in the NFL Draft
With the 7th overall pick in the 1st round, the New York Giants selected Evan Neal. Here’s what we know about the player.
Evan Neal, Strengths
A top-ten overall recruit in 2019, Neal started 13 games in each of his first two seasons with the Crimson Tide at left guard and right tackle respectively. He earned Freshman All-American honors along the way. He is 6’7” ½, and 340 pounds. He transitioned to the left side in 2021 and really developed, leading to first-team All-SEC and second-team All-American recognition.
When Neal switched over from the right to the left side, he established himself as one of the top draft picks. This monster of a man routinely hits box jumps at 48 inches, benches nearly 500 pounds and hit 19 MPH last summer on the GPS despite weighing 337 pounds. Neal's picture came out during the combine and it is clear that he has almost no fat on him.
That ability to get low and be explosive shows up constantly as he comes off the ball in the run game. He sets the tone for first contact basically every single time with a jolt of his hands. He takes edge defenders for a ride on the front-side of most run schemes, as his feet don’t stop moving.
Neal creates some gaping holes behind him for a pulling guard to lead up into, as he places the inside hand in the middle of the chest and the outside hand on the near-hip of the D-tackle, to get that horizontal movement going.
He’s a player that you want to run behind in goal-line and short-yardage situations. On the backside of zone runs, he can provide attractive cutback lanes with the way he can drive combos with his guard, even when he’s in unfavorable positions trying to scoop-block 3/4i-techniques who have leverage on the gap. He has strong enough hands and flexible enough lower body to not allow them to pursue.
You see him fluidly transitioning up to linebackers, where he’s not just looking to catch guys, but rather does strike inside their chest. His speed on crack-toss and tunnel screens, to put DBs on the turf, is highly impressive.
Compared to 2020, Neal played under much better control as a pass-protector last year, trusting his technique and keeping his shoulders square. He immediately went viral in Alabama’s blowout win over Miami, when he helped on an interior rusher and flattened a player from the side.
Otherwise things were pretty quiet for him, as he surrendered just four sacks and 24 additional pressures on 1073 combined pass-blocking snaps over the last two seasons. This was despite facing some of the toughest competition in the country and playing a maximum 28 games.
Neal gains good depth in his kick-slide initially and jumps out to cut off angles for wide-nine alignments. He can absorb the force of guys trying to take advantage of that runway by trying to go through him. He will quickly get his feet close to parallel if his man hesitates or could potentially loop inside.
When he lands that punch with the outside hand, he can really take rushers off track, while getting the inside hand up, if guys try to take the transition inside. He maximizes his length to counter long-arm moves with that one arm being longer than two principle. If that reach gets swatted down, he can flip those hips and push the man past the arc.
Neal is very smooth in his lateral movement, as opponents widen their rush or try to hit inside counters. Spin moves were useless against him for the most part. He has an impeccable ability to directly transition from that first kick to shuffle up to his guard as the end drops out or sets up a twist, so he can pick up the interior rusher.
Evan Neal, Weaknesses
On the negative side, Neal dips his head a bit and gets his weight way out in front of numerous occasions in the run game, which he can be pulled off for.
His hands may be ready to punch in the passing game, but Neal is fairly conservative in that area and you see guys attack his pads multiple times per game, which hurts his balance. He gets caught leaning into guys rushing up the arc on a few occasions.
Neal missed quite a few delayed wrap-around blitzes from the second level, once he was engaged along with the guard on a B-gap defender and his eyes aren’t up anymore. He certainly didn’t finish his career on a high note, as Georgia’s Nolan Smith beat him for a sack on an up-and-under on the final play of the National Championship game.
Conclusion
On balance, Neal offers one of the cleanest evaluations you will find for an offensive tackle. His lower body mobility and explosiveness is elite, he has high-level starting experience on both sides of the line, he is a very easy mover altogether and has been dominant against some of the best edge rushers in the country.
This could be a great pick for the Giants and their fans should be thrilled with what he can bring to the team.
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