Evaluating UCF Commitment Leyton Nelson's Senior Film

Here’s a look at Leyton Nelson’s senior film and how he improved from his junior season.

Brian Smith | Dec 9, 2021

When UCF offered offensive tackle Leyton Nelson, he was still a junior in high school. He’s definitely bigger and stronger than he was last January, and it showed on film.

With even more strength gains once he’s at UCF, it will be interesting to see just how good Nelson can become for the Knights. Time to break down what Nelson does best on the gridiron.

Leyton Nelson

Vitals: 6’5” 290 pounds

Position: Offensive Tackle

High School: Orlando (Fla.) Boone

Recruitment: Nelson selected UCF over Florida on Aug. 5, 2021. Prior to picking the Knights over the Gators, he also took official visits to Pittsburgh, Utah, Miami and Louisville.

Frame

Nelson is well developed now compared to just two seasons ago when he looked much more like a tight end. He will be able to add a little more weight, if desired, while at UCF and he will be just fine.

His height and arm length will suit him well at offensive tackle, and he is actually built well to protect the quarterback’s blind side by playing left tackle because of his natural attributes.

Athleticism

This is a player that does his best work in space. Nelson moves extremely well left and right, and he’s capable of getting up to full speed much quicker than most offensive linemen do. His ability to bend and drive block is also impacted by that quickness.

Playing Style

He’s a tenacious player that wants a defender to feel his power. He will roll over a defender on the ground just to send a message. Nelson is a player that goes out of his way to find an extra block during a screen play or running play after completing his initial block. He hustles like a player without fanfare, too.

Scheme

Nelson has been playing in a zone blocking scheme, and he’s going to jump right into another zone scheme with UCF and Head Coach Gus Malzahn. The transition will be pretty easy. He was already very good at operating outside zone during his junior season, and the biggest difference on senior film is just that Nelson was moving defenders much easier because of added size and strength.

He also times his blocks on the edge a little bit better than he did in 2020, so Nelson understands the nuances of angle blocks and how to get to a spot quicker than last fall. That applies to screens, outside zone, or even pass protection.

For More Senior UCF Recruiting Profiles: Check Them Out Here!

Areas to Improve

There’s not a lineman in America that could not do a better job of staying lower, especially after contact. That’s a lifelong learning skill for offensive tackles especially, as they are usually taller and tend to lose leverage more easily in run blocking situations. Nelson is no different. It’s the one obvious point with some of his run blocking. He does need to stay a little bit lower at times. That will be somewhat elevated by what he does in the UCF strength and conditioning program.

Nelson also needs to just continue to be a warrior in the weight room. He’s a natural pass protector so he’s good to go there. At the college level, however, he will see far more players with similar size to him so he needs to always be working on power and balance via the weight room to stay ahead of the competition. That will benefit Nelson the most when he’s drive blocking a 300 pound defensive tackle or very gifted edge rusher with the ability to bend and run around Nelson. He needs to use more power than he has now to offset those factors.

Final Thoughts

Nelson has a chance to be on the playing field as a redshirt freshman. It’s hard to play as a true freshman offensive lineman, but Nelson’s advanced pass blocking gives him a huge head start over most offensive linemen. It’s so unique that there’s not a huge jump from junior to senior film with pass protection, but he was truly advanced already during his junior season.

Seeing how aggressive Nelson became as a run blocker was a great sign, too. He got after it during his junior year, but the level of confidence he plays with now compared to last season is glaring. He mauls many smaller defensive players, as he should, with his size, strength and athleticism. He really does a great job of playing hard and going all-out to dominate. That’s a great sign as he gets ready to head off to UCF and begin his college football career.