Phil Loadholt OT 6'8 337 Oklahoma

Loadholt dominated the Junior College ranks at Garden City(KS) Community College for two seasons before enrolling at Oklahoma in January of 2007. He was twice named JuCo AA, and he stepped in as a starter right away for the Sooner offense. As a junior last year, he was named all Big 12 after starting every game at left tackle.

Strengths

Loadholt is an absolutely mammoth offensive lineman. He has the prototypical offensive lineman body. He is extremely tall, with long arms and can just engulf defenders once the ball is snapped. His size with his natural strength allow him to easily control college lineman and move them off the line of scrimmage. Loadholt combines that size with very good athleticism for a player with his dimensions. He shows the footwork to move side to side and his wingspan keeps the defender away from his body, and away from his quarterback.

Weaknesses

While his size is definitely more of a positive than a negative, Loadholt is so tall it hurts him at times. It is tough for lineman as tall as him to stay down and low enough out of his stance to gain leverage on defenders. He has a propensity to get upright, which can cause problems with athletic edge rushers. Loadholt will have to improve on that, or he may be put on the right side of the line.

Future

This years tackle class has the ability to be very special at the top, and Loadholt is a part of that group. He has the natural talent to remain at left tackle in the league, but also has the talent to play on the right side with his ability to drive defenders into the ground. As long as he doesn’t take a step back, Loadholt is poised to hear his name called in the first round of the draft in April.