NFL Draft Profile: Blaise Andries, Offensive Tackle, Minnesota Golden Gophers

NFL draft profile scouting report for Minnesota offensive tackle, Blaise Andries

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#77
Pos: OT
Ht: 6060
Wt: 308
Hand: 0978
Arm: 3378
Wing: N/A
40: 5.10
Bench: N/A
3-Cone: 7.84
Shuttle: 4.68
Vert: N/A
Broad: N/A
DOB: 7/21/98
Eligible: 2022
Marshall, MN
Marshall High School

Blaise Andries
Minnesota Golden Gophers

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Pros:

Pun: Blaise Andries boasts elite positional versatility as Minnesota asked him to play left tackle, right tackle and right guard all within the same drive versus Ohio State in 2021 (also played left guard earlier in career) and he looked functional at all spots. He’s a mauler in the run game who blocks with a physical demeanor and helps set the competitive tone in the trenches. When at guard, Andries is great as the climber on combo blocks, creating displacement on the initial defender, then locating his next target quickly and getting enough contact to keep them out of the play. In addition, Andries is a powerful puller who takes a tight angle behind the line and can turn defensive ends inside, away from the direction of the run. When at tackle, Andries maximizes his great size and makes kick out blocks well, turning his hips and consequently the defender, towards the sideline.

Cons:

Pun: Andries has major struggles in pass protection and was occasionally taken off the field in clear passing situations vs OSU. At guard, he struggles to latch onto a defender with inside hand placement and plays with high pad level, thus he cannot mirror or anchor well. At tackle, he lacks the first step quickness to kickstep to his landmark versus speed rushers and is often playing catch up. In addition, he has a poorly timed strike and his hands were easily and often defeated at the POA. Andries lack of functional length really hurts his effectiveness in the pass and run game as defenders are able to get into his chest and control the POA. Furthermore, in the run game, Andries first step is on the slower side, thus he struggles to gain leverage to the play side of zone runs. Finally, he is ineffective when asked to get out in space on a draw or screen as he is a clunky athlete in the open field and struggles to make contact on moving defenders.

Summary:

Pun: Extremely versatile offensive lineman who can switch positions and sides within the same drive and not hurt the offense. Andries is an awkward tweener who has the height of a tackle, but the arm length, athleticism and weight of a guard. He fits best at guard for gap/power teams and can be functional in inside zone schemes as well. Andries has the potential to be one of the most valuable backup lineman in the league due to his versatility, but his ceiling is limited to a scheme-specific average starter.

Background:

Andries attended Marshall High School in Marshall, Minnesota where he participated in the 2016 MFCA All-Star football game, was named First Team All-State and earned the Marshall Area Co-Player of the Year in 2016, was a top-ten finalist for the 2016 Minnesota Mr. Football award and earned All-District honors in 2015. After high school, 247Sports ranked Andries as a 3-Star recruit, the 367th-best recruit nationally, the 37th-ranked offensive tackle in the country and the 1st recruit in the state of Minnesota. Andries committed to the Minnesota Gophers and redshirted his 2017 season. In 2018, he started all 13 games, 12 at right guard and one at left tackle. He was awarded with an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention, a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and the RTB Trust Award. In 2019, he started all 13 games, with 10 at left guard, two at right tackle and one at left tackle. He was named to the CoSida Academic All-America Second Team, the CoSida Academic All-District First-Team, All-Big Ten Third team and given the Butch Nash Award for the best competitor on the field and in the classroom. In 2020, he started all seven games, six at right tackle and one at left guard. He was named to the Academic All-Big Ten in all three years, the All-Big Ten Third Team for the second year in a row and the CoSida Academic All-America First Team. Andries is an impressive student off the field, and that intelligence is an extremely underrated and beneficial aspect of offensive line play. His teammates are quick to praise and recognize the work ethic and mind that is required out of Andries to learn four positions as well as he has. Gophers’ running back, Shannon Brooks says, “If you look at Blaise, you can just tell by his size that he’s huge. Offensive line is a hard position to learn all the plays and the different zone schemes and things like that, but Blaise has done a tremendous job of learning the playbook and performing, getting better. We watched a practice clip of him when he got beat one time and then we saw him on the sideline during the special teams just working on his punch. Seeing small things like that on film, that shows you that he’s willing to put in the work and he wants to get better.”

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One-Liners

Pun: With experience at every position but center, Andries is a mauling lineman who blocks with immense competitive toughness in the run game and is a powerful puller but he struggles to pass protect due to short arms, uncoordinated hand usage and high pad level.

Grades

Current Player Value/Potential Player Value

Pun: 6.9 / 7.9

Quotes

“I think that’s what a lot of the teams like about me. I tell them this, 'Wherever they want to put me, they can put me; I’ll play there.' Give me a week to practice at it and I’ll be good. If we don’t have a week, we’ll make do.” -- Blaise Andries on where he projects in the NFL