NFL Draft Profile: Dohnovan West, Offensive Guard, Arizona State Sun Devils

NFL draft profile scouting report for Arizona State offensive guard, Dohnovan West

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#61
Pos: OG
Ht: 6030
Wt: 296
Hands: 0948
Arms: 3300
40: 5.27
Vertical: 28
Broad Jump: 904
DOB: 5/19/01
Eligible: 2022
Mission Hills, CA
Bishop Alemany High School

Dohnovan West
Arizona State Sun Devils

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Pros:

Ezring: Players who boast experience and high-level traits are often sought-after on draft day. Dohnovan West combines these two requirements. The Arizona State starter has started every game (at left guard, right guard and center) through his two seasons with the Sun Devils. West’s strong on-field performance has been driven by his excellent athleticism. His short-area quickness and long speed are immediately apparent and allow him to pull, climb and work screens. He has the hips to disengage, hinge and reengage while navigating the box. Similarly, the lineman’s lateral agility enables him to mirror defenders. West also exhibits incredible flexibility. His loose frame and bend in his back enhance each aspect of his game. Moreover, West frequently employs his wrestling background to better his anchor. He maintains an extremely wide base through engagement to maximize balance. Further, he manufactures power and gains control through his natural feel for leverage and consequent understanding of pad level and hand placement. In the run game, he uses his wrestling to reposition his base through contact to seal defenders out of a gap. Additionally, the Arizona State starter learned to avoid lunging ahead of his frame as he accumulated experience. West also improved his ability to sustain blocks and recover against hand moves as he played more by complementing his borderline-elite traits with leg drive and grip strength. Finally, he boasts impressive awareness and vision in the run game and as a pass protector.

Cons:

Ezring: Although the high-level interior line prospect boasts an intriguing skill set, his game is not particularly well-rounded. First and foremost, West does not have substantial natural power or anchor. While he has begun to compensate with leverage and technique, the Sun Devil standout can be stacked, shed, bench pressed, push-pulled or long-armed when defenders land hands on his chest. This was apparent in 2020 but was especially evident in his 2019 tape. West only exacerbates this issue with his occasional tendency to shoot his hands late or inaccurately. His inconsistent contact initiation remains an area of concern after his stellar sophomore season. Similarly, West’s efficacy would jump significantly if he practiced fork or trap techniques more often. Additionally, the Arizona State star exhibited unreliable weight distribution during his freshman season. He regularly lunged ahead of his base to close distance. As a result, defenders redirected and replaced him. In fact, West routinely failed to sustain blocks in 2019 due to inconsistent grip strength and his forward lean into engagement. Finally, the Sun Devil will be much less effective in a man-blocking scheme than he will be in a zone-blocking scheme. 

Summary:

Ezring: Although he is a scheme-specific prospect due to his lack of consistent power, Dohnovan West can be an excellent guard or center in a zone-blocking scheme because of his mobility, awareness, leverage, technique and flexibility. The Arizona State product projects as a solid backup with Pro Bowl potential. 

Background:

Born May 19th, 2001 in his hometown of Mission Hills, California, Dohnovan West was an athletic standout at Bishop Alemany High School. The Sun Devil star was a three-year member of his varsity team and registered noted improvement on the field and in the weight room between each season. While linemen do not often receive awards, West was named the Mission Football League Co-Offensive Lineman MVP while simultaneously making first-team all-league. The Arizona State blocker was also a wrestler at Bishop Alemany. After his high school career, West was listed as a three-star recruit by 247Sports Composite Rankings. The same service named him the 712th-overall player in his class, the 11th-best center in the nation and the 78th-ranked recruit in the state of California. Despite being listed as a center recruit, West has noted that he never played the position in high school. In fact, his first time snapping the ball in a high-level game was in his first career collegiate performance. West was the first-team center during Week One due to injuries to the expected starter. After two games at the new position, the freshman moved to guard before the Sun Devils’ matchup with Michigan State. West names his game against the Spartans as where he gained his confidence as a college athlete, referring to it as one of his best performances at Arizona State to date. After the matchup in East Lansing, the former three-star recruit held the first-string job there through the rest of his debut campaign. For his strong freshman year, West made the 2019 The Athletic Midseason Freshman All-America Team and the 2019 Pro Football Focus Pac-12 Third Team (at guard). He also received 2019 Pac-12 Honorable Mentions. Prior to the 2020 season, West was named to the Outland Trophy Watch List - awarded annually to the best interior offensive lineman in the nation. After primarily playing right guard in his freshman season, the versatile blocker played left guard as a sophomore. He may more to center in 2021. West has expressed interest in the center position and even acknowledged it may be in his future; he believes that exhibiting versatility as an “undersized” (in his own words) lineman can be crucial to his NFL career. The talented lineman is confident he can play anywhere along the interior offensive line at the next level. 

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One-Liners

Ezring: Although he is a scheme-specific prospect due to his lack of consistent power, Dohnovan West can be an excellent guard or center in a zone-blocking scheme because of his mobility, awareness, leverage, technique and flexibility.

Grades

Current Player Value/Potential Player Value

Ezring: 7.6 / 8.9

Quote

"One of the biggest things has been my size and whatnot, but today I weighed in at 309 (pounds), so I got to eliminate that factor. I think overall, working on my strength is still something that I could improve on. Throughout the season, I was like 280, 285 (pounds). They had my weight documented at 273 the last time the scouts were in the building, so that was always a big worry for them.” -- Dohnovan West at ASU pro day