Giants Film Room Anaysis: IOL Joshua Ezeudu

Nick Falato zooms in on third-round pick Joshua Ezeudu's tape.

Round 3 (No. 67) — Joshua Ezeudu, G, North Carolina

Good size and length for an interior offensive lineman; played 1,247 at left guard, 508 at left tackle, and 171 at right tackle. His versatility is appealing but I think his best fit is at OG. 

Ezeudu has good play speed and is a fine athlete with the necessary range, good foot speed, lateral movement skills, fluid hips, solid overall bend, a good overall ability to change direction and redistribute his weight when in recovery move.

• Strengths: Power, Run blocking, effort/passion, grip strength, athletic ability 
• Weaknesses: Pass blocking technique; pass-sets, late punch/low hands

Run blocking

Very compact stance -- he’s light on his hand with a coiled base ready to explode. However, he has pre-snap tells; on base and down blocks, he’s in his compact stance looking like a snake ready to attack, but he’s more upright and sometimes not in a three-point stance when he’s pulling - something he was asked to do often at UNC.

Ezeudu also possesses exceptional grip strength at the point of attack; if he fits his hands inside, it’s game over for defenders. He keeps his elbows tight and strikes with authority. His punch is tight, authoritative, and heavy - it can be late at times - but that’s more of an issue in pass protection.

Explodes out of his stance with power, driving through contact on down blocks with exceptional overall strength. Splits defenders when blocking down - good angles of attack with one hand on the small of the back and the other around the breastplate - excellent control.

His upper-body strength specifically stands out - he has bouncer throwing patrons out of the bar type of control and power when washing defenders down the line of scrimmage. Effective overall in head-up base blocks, albeit he had a tendency to drop his eyes into contact which led to well-timed defenders evading contact around his edge; he does execute good overall positioning when inline against defenders in his immediate area.

Has the foot speed and flexibility to cross the 3-technique's face on play-side reach blocks. Does a solid job sustaining blocks while moving laterally; if his hands fit inside, he restricts the operating space for the defender by pulling him close; was solid maneuvering his hips outside to create the seal; excellent core strength to torque and pop on contact to turn the contain defender out of the play when at OT.

Effective as the backside blocker who adapted well to defensive gap maneuvers post-snap; displayed excellent awareness and processing through plays to suppress teammate’s mistakes and account for defensive shifts. Eliminated several blitzing linebackers attempting to undercut and make tackles in pursuit - he’s a heady player with diagnosing pre to post-snap as a run blocker -- he’s marginal doing this in pass protection (struggled against Pitt, 2021).

On the backside, stays low at the snap, steps play-side, and uses his power and wide frame to obstruct defenders. Keeps his feet laterally moving to close off penetrating LBs while engaged with a DL. Good overall ability to frame his blocks on the play and backside; he takes advantageous angles into contact with solid overall pad-level.

Ezeudu has a lot of experience pulling in power/gap type of schemes; he does a solid job kicking off the LOS and squaring to his target with solid overall quickness and fluidity, and he has an effective skip-pull which allows him to stay square to the LOS and enter an inside gap with more control. 

Ezeudu possessed solid overall body control when pulling; his hat was a bit too high while kicking out the end man on the line of scrimmage, but he did a good job getting to the second-level and harassing defenders with determination and effort.

I also felt like he would have more pop on contact when kicking out, but he does a very good job adjusting to the defender and giving the running back options; if a defender is narrow to the tackles down block, he gains the outside shoulder and uses the wrong arm technique against the defender to allow the RB space outside. 

Does a good job getting his hips to the inside hip of defenders who don’t restrict the C-gap, gaining that inside shoulder pad of the defender, and using his wide frame and sturdy nature to create a seal.

Ezeudu operates well on combo blocks (DEUCE/ACE - OT/OG) with good timing and feel for when to peel off or stay put depending on the second-level flow. Maintains a wide ready base with active eyes - gets hip to hip with his teammate, establishes his hands, and transitions well when he climbs.

Does a good job climbing to the second level and locating defenders. Good short-area quickness allowed him to close width and locate, using his broad frame and length to cut the defender’s angles off. Rarely stacked or shed by linebackers; his power and ability to latch and drive through proved to be dangerous and effective.

Pass Blocking

Ezeudu has technical issues that stem from his feet that are exploitable more specifically when aligned at offensive tackle. His kick-slide has wasted steps and he keeps his catch (outside) foot well away from his frame, making his base too wide. 

He struggled with speed, but it’s not necessarily due to a lack of range; there’s little conviction or patience in his feet at OT; he allowed his base to narrow too often, giving defenders bull-rushing opportunities. His 45 and vertical sets weren’t consistently smooth and there was a herky-jerky nature to them, due to the feet and pre-snap stance at OT.

His pad level rose as he moved backward which minimized his core strength and ability to anchor. Generally speaking, he has a very good anchor and can stonewall defenders when he keeps his hips low and trusts his technique; however, Florida State Q2 0:53, Notre Dame Q3, 4:40, and Pitt Q1, 8:00 were all plays where his poor technique led him to the ground - high hips, indecisive feet, unbalanced, etc.

He had a tendency to keep his hands low and wide which - combined with the tardy nature of engagement - exacerbates his issues and exposed his chest. Ezeudu can be late with his hands and he kept his hands concerningly low when there was a lot of space between him and the defender

His ability to frame-blocks and his pre to post-snap diagnosing ability suffered when moving backward in pass protection, albeit he still did a solid overall job seeing twists and positioning himself to handle games.

A lot of his warts stem from his pass protection, he’s much more natural going forward and attacking--one of his better attributes in pass protection at tackle is when he jump sets which is a much more run-blocking type of execution.

He’s not a poor pass blocker, he just needs work - he’s marginal mostly due to the baseline traits of athletic ability and overall strength - the technique itself is marginal. Other than the outside foot at OT, he doesn’t play outside his frame. Not a waist bender into contact, and plays with good overall balance.

He is good when he can latch and sustain onto blocks leveraging his grip and core strength; he does a solid job handling counter moves and replacing initial contact underneath the breastplate of defenders, allowing Ezeudu to lift upward which stalled the defender’s forward momentum.

Solid mirror skills to stay in front of defenders at OG. Does a good job--once hands are established--steering defenders away from the pocket. Showed some craftiness and forbearance when at a distance, baiting defenders with engagement to force their momentum forward.

Other Notes

Ezeudu’s competitive toughness and passion were evident throughout his tape. He was always looking for work at the LOS and he has several plays on tape where he’s 20-yards downfield throwing blocks. Work ethic and football character were reportedly excellent at North Carolina.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Joshua Ezeudu is a physical, aggressive, run blocker who does a good overall job on play-side reaches, backside scoops, and he can effectively work up to the second level off combo blocks. 

He possesses excellent overall grip strength to latch & sustain, very good overall power to displace, solid bend, and good range/foot speed. I really appreciate the combination of power and athletic ability. His footwork on the LOS while run blocking is solid.

He is a work in progress in pass protection and his best fit at OG. As a run blocker, he plays controlled and balanced, but that’s not always the case when moving backward in pass protection. Ezeudu’s footwork in pass protection lacks confidence and is erratic. When he’s framed well, he has the anchor to sink and absorb power moves and does a solid job mirroring speed as a guard.

Ezeudu has the luxury of not being forced to play; the Giants have Max Garcia, Jamil Douglas, Ben Bredeson, and Shane Lemieux competing for left guard. 

OL coach Bobby Johnson can attempt to iron out the kinks in Ezeudu’s pass protection before he has to see the field, albeit most his issues on tape were at OT. The baseline power and athletic ability of Ezeudu cause excitement and he will have a shot to start inside at guard in year one. 

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