NFL Draft Profile: Chris Paul, Offensive Tackle, Tulsa Golden Hurricane

NFL draft profile scouting report for Tulsa offensive tackle, Chris Paul

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#71
Pos: OT
Ht: 6040
Wt: 323
Hand: 0938
Arm: 3358
Wing: N/A
40: 4.89
Bench: N/A
3-Cone: 7.74
Shuttle: 4.83
Vert: 27
Broad: 901
DOB: 11/19/98
Eligible: 2022
Houston, TX
Jersey Village High School

Chris Paul
Tulsa Golden Hurricane

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Pros:

Chris Paul has a muscular upper and lower body with long arms and good athletic traits which pose a high ceiling at tackle. In pass protection, Paul covers a lot of distance with his first step and when he latches on, he has good lateral mobility to mirror outside rushes plus his long arms and good play strength allow him to regularly prevent rushers from cornering, pushing them past the pocket instead. Paul has very good hand usage, timing his strike well - not too early or too late - and placing his hands on the chest and shoulder pad of the rusher, to control them at the point of attack. Paul usually plays with a wide stance and good pad level, allowing him to anchor versus power rushes and contribute to a clean pocket. Paul has solid mental processing to read twists/stunts and pickup blitzers in the open field. Paul can also be effective blocking in space on screens due to his above average foot speed. In the run game, Paul is best in a gap/power scheme where he is very good at positioning himself for a kick out or drive block - he easily turns his body to shield off a running lane and has the play strength to wash defensive ends out of the play. Paul has solid positioning as a zone blocker due to his good explosiveness and with good guard play, he can make reach and combo blocks on inside zone runs.

Cons:

Paul occasionally struggles in pass protection versus very good athletes because his second and third kick step covers marginal ground - this leads to Paul being beaten to his landmark and having to turn and run outside to recover. Furthermore, Paul can overset at times and be susceptible to inside rushes, which he struggles to recover against due to stiff hips when turning inside. Paul is an inconsistent finisher as a run blocker as he has inconsistent physical toughness, his pad level gets high at times and he rarely drives his legs to create push - this appears most often on zone concepts and it’s clear he needs the most refinement in this area. 

Summary:

Chris Paul has experience at right tackle, right guard and left guard with great size, arm length and solid athletic ability to project at right tackle. He is a strong pass protector with great mirroring and anchoring skills who can become a very good pass protector by cleaning up his kick step. Overall, he is good at positioning himself for blocks in the run game but must finish better. He will excel in an offense that allows him to quick-set often and utilizes his size in a gap/power run scheme. Paul can be a backup tackle from day one and progress into a starter in the right system.

Background:

Chris Paul is from the Houston area and grew up with an athletic family - his oldest brother, Nick Paul, played football at Northwestern, while his youngest brother, Patrick Paul, plays for Houston. Chris Paul attended Jersey Village high school where he was a two year letter winner and played both offensive and defensive line. Paul earned first-team all-district merits, was an academic all-district selection his senior season and was team captain as a senior. After high school, 247Sports ranked him as a 2-Star recruit, the 3006th-best recruit nationally, the 252nd-ranked offensive tackle recruit in the country and the 431st recruit in the state of Texas. Paul committed to Tulsa and redshirted his freshman year in 2017. In 2018, he played in all games, starting eight at right guard. In 2019, Paul showed his versatility by starting all 12 games at left guard. In 2020, he started eight games at right tackle and was named second-team all-conference. In 2021, Paul seems to have found a home at right tackle and has been playing his best ball of his career. Paul is an exceptional study off the field as well, from being his senior class president in high school, to his immense involvement at Tulsa. He was named to the NCAA’s Division I Football Oversight Committee as a SAAC representative for 2021, also serves as the American Athletic Conference’s representative to the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and is a member of the NCAA Board of Governors Committee to Promote Cultural Diversity and Equity. In addition, Paul serves as chair of the conference’s SAAC executive board for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years, he is a member of the AAC’s Racial Equity Action Group, a member of the Black Men’s Initiative, University Ambassadors, Student Association, Future Alumni Council and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It’s clear that Paul feels it is his duty to do more than just football, stating, ​​“You are not just a student-athlete but you do a lot of different things. You represent a lot of different things, so it’s important to share that, let people know that you do different things and hopefully society in the future will catch on (to realize they are more than athletes).”

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One-Liners

Great size, arm length and solid athletic ability with great mirroring and anchoring in pass protection but needs to improve his kick step and finishing as a run blocker.

Grades

Current Player Value/Potential Player Value

7.1 / 7.9

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