Latest / Scouting the League / 2027 Draft Scouting - Anthonie Knapp - Notre Dame OL
Transcript
- Rodrik David: Hey everyone and welcome to Scouting the League and to our 2027 NFL Draft Scouting Series. Time to get back in the trenches today and talk about a player that you certainly want in your trenches, Anthony Knapp True Jr. out of Notre Dame, that I am sure tomorrow's guest, Mike Martin of Notre Dame football, will want back for two more years. But today we will answer the question is his film good enough to be a part of that 2027 NFL Draft class? Stick around to see. But before we jump in, set those reminders for tomorrow's show. 10 a.m. when Neil and I go long format with former NFL Scout, now GM of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Mike Martin. It is a really fun conversation on Mike's journey, the draft classes he has been a part of, what he learned along the way, and how he is applying it to one of the true blue blood programs of. college football. Set your minders for that one. And while you're doing that, make sure you like, subscribe, and share this podcast wherever you're listening and watching. Today's episode will have some great film from Notre Dame football. So make sure you check it out on YouTube. Hit that subscribe button as well as comment. Let me know what you think of Anthony Knapp or any of the other players we have done. Who do you want to hear in the future? What player part of the 2027 draft class or beyond do you want to get a report done on Let me know. At right step ADV on Twitter is where you can follow me as well. I am Roderick David, of course. Rsafootball.com is a website. Check everything out I have there. While you're looking around, if you are a current NFL scout or want to be a scout, make sure you check out the scoutingcommunity.com for resources for everything you need in that scouting world. And if you need to upgrade every pair of shoes you have, make sure you head to blue maca.com. 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But to today's 2027 NFL Draft Scouting series, let's take a look at Anthony Knapp. Who is Anthony? As we get some film rolling here, we will stock start talking about Anthony, a four-star recruit out of Roswell, Georgia. And imagine there was a fight with the dogs for this one. again came in and started 15 games as a true freshman for a late season injury. So I'm down for the spring. Returned to start all 12 games at left tackle in 2025. So he could certainly be a return to school guy. Hey, with this new five for five, he could have two years left, but I'd imagine it's gonna be one or two, maybe, maybe not even three. But again, we'll see where it all sorts out. Where's Jersey number fifty-four? as always a reminder for our offensive line, we'll be looking at that initial quickness, run blocking, pass blocking, the position he maintains, his hand use and his feet. And again, for Anthony, we're gonna be talking about where is this guy gonna play long term? Cause that will be the question. A lot of the sites out there when you start talking about 2027 draft players, a lot of people have him set as a center, which I am always as a scout. This goes back to my scouting days, until I see you snap the ball in practice. In pre-game at an all-star game, I'm not going to be able to put a center tag on you. Again, that's a personal thing. That's you know, kind of a philosophy I grew up in. Some of the people I learned from. I'm not going to put that tag on you until I've seen you play center. Now, I can tag you as a guard because again, tackle to guard, obviously, you're not putting a football in your hand. So again, I think Anthony, we're going to talk about Anthony playing as an offensive tackle, but ultimately being an offensive guard in the NFL. This is A very good athlete. This is a big man square frame. I think the arm length is going to be a little bit short for that tackle. I think he's gonna be right at the good range. I think he's probably gonna be a 32 and a half to maybe 33 inch arm length when it's all said and done, when he gets those measurements done. I think there's going to be some concerns about his length and his hand use in combination ultimately in his pass blocking. I think his feet can get a little bit heavy because he is a big, strong, thick lower half guy, tends to reach, tends to lean, tends to get overextended a little. But again, in the run game, let's start with the initial quickness. This guy's very good. He can get out, he can play in gap with good power, with very good strength to create some movement. This guy is a good zone scheme blocker, takes good angles, is patient, he can sustain, he's gritty at a good level. He does a lot of things at a good to very good level. Again, in the run game, this guy is going to be scheme versatile. He's going to be able to get out and play, get to the second level, be able to pull, run backside. This guy's scheme versatile. Again, there's gonna be thirty-two teams that like this player and his ability in the run game. Again. When you start talking about getting into contact, plays with good hand placement. Again, can still be refined there. He is a mauler. He wants to get his hands on. He is a strong player through the core, through the lower half. So again, when he gets his hands on, he can really win and dominate those matchups. But again, as he gets overextended for some of the more quick and athletic defenders, that's where he can get himself in trouble. And the pass blocking, again, he's got a good initial set, but again, it's that second move. It's the recovery. It's matching again. left and right and side to side rushers who have the quickness, who are twitchy, who are guys that can really get on his edges. He can struggle to, you know, get full man. He really struggles when he gets to the edges, because again, those players have some speed on him. When you move him inside, again you take a little bit of that way, you get a little bit more power game. Again, part of why I'm gonna project him ultimately to guard is again that that that maybe some of his weaknesses are going to be more exposed. He's got natural strengths on the inside. His position again plays with good body position, except when he really gets out, starts leaning and sending, trying to match those speed rushers on the edge. Again, I think he's just ultimately probably a sufficient position player at tackle. I think he's going to be a good to very good player at guard. Again, hand use, strong. He can get those hands on. He can lock up. He can really get into you and shut down players who you know, get into his body because he does have that big strong frame that I'm expecting is only going to be better with another full healthy off season in that Notre Dame Strength program. And again, for his feet, again, can be a little bit heavy footed on the edge. He's got good foot quickness going vertically. When you start talking about the short area stuff inside outside matching guys, he can get a little bit heavy footed. Again, that's one of my concerns at tackle, not so much at guards. And again That's what it comes down to me. I don't think this guy's an offensive tackle. I think he can function there. Certainly not a first round tackle for me, though, which starts bringing into that draft conversation. If you're not a first rounder, do you stick around at Notre Dame and try to again improve the film? Answer the questions that scouts have. Yes, as an offensive guard. I think he could certainly end up in that first round category. I've heard people say, hey, let's let him fail at an offensive tackle. And then if not, he if he doesn't function out there, we'll move him to Garne. You don't want to let a player fail because that means there's going to be some bad film. That's going to be a quarterback running for his life. You want to establish it, identify what position is this player, Anthony Knapp, going to be for our team. Let's get him there from day one. I think there's going to be a lot of teams, a lot of conversations. Hey, do we kick him over to the right side? Let him play right tackle. Do we plug him in as the best guard on our roster that we're going to be having for a long time and let him win there? I think that's where the teams that maybe draft this player around, that 15 spot in the first round, could have him. But again, for me, until I see some guard snaps, until I see what his film looks like this year, I'm going to put a second round grade on him. And with that, let's kick it over to Kyle Morgan's big board here. This he's created for us. I'm gonna put that top tier start. I think that's what this guy's going to be a top tier starter at offensive guard in the NFL. Again, this is a player who, again, he's going to have a lot of good films and you're going to have just a couple question marks that he's going to be able to answer at either the senior bowl or the East West Shrine game. Now that we can have underclassmen go to those games, I think this guy's a perfect fit to go down there, dominate it guard, and all of a sudden, okay, he's answered those questions. This guy is now going to be a first rounder for him. But again, for right now, I'm going to put a top-tier starter grade on him as a junior. Again, I think he's probably going to come in a little bit bigger than 6'4, 300, which is what he's listed at. But we're going to go ahead and sit hit save on that. And then we need to adjust his position as well. Cause I talked about again, he's not a center for me until I see him put the ball in his hands. So let's hit him to guard. He's going to hop over here, and he is certainly. Going to jump up to the top of our guard list. He's going to be guard number one in this group that's going to be a part of a really good draft class of guys that you want to get in in the class. Again, Trevor Lack, who we've talked about with again, I've I've done work on. Again, he's gonna be in a similar conversation. I think Trevor is going to be a little bit longer than Anthony. Again, that's going to be a really interesting conversation to Both of those guys end up at that guard spot again for now. We got Trevor at tackle. Anthony's our number one guard. Anthony would be in front of Trevor if we move Trevor over there. But again, it's going to be a great conversation there. So again, you love the board? You want your own board? Hit me up. Let's talk to Kyle Morgan. He can get you set up. Beautiful board. Great for doing this draft stuff as we get through it. So again, really fun to talk about that draft board. As we wrap up here, though, again. Let me know what you think. What do you think, Vant? Should I even be thinking about him as a 2027 draft player? Is he going to stick around at Notre Dame? Big expectations. We talk about that with Mike Martin on tomorrow's episode, Neil and I. What Notre Dame has to do. Again, it's a good thing to have big expectations because people actually expect something out of you. You you want that. They're embracing it. Head coach Marcus Freeman, that program's gonna be ready to go. Who do you want to hear next? Do you want to hear a report on somebody else at Notre Dame, somebody from across the country, a 27, 28, 29 draft kid? Let me know at Right Step ADV is where you can do all that. Make sure you tune in tomorrow's episode, Mike Martin, GM of Notre Dame Football. Got some really fun ones lined up. An Atlanta Falcon, an Iowa Hawkeye, maybe a Cincinnati Bear Cat. We got a bunch of great guests lined up. So make sure you're tuning in, following it. And in everything you're doing, make sure you keep scouting.