Former Michigan Wolverines captain earns abysmal grade for NFL debut with Cleveland Browns
Despite being one of college football's best and most accomplished blockers for years, Zak Zinter will need time to adjust to the NFL. The third-round pick of the Cleveland Browns was thrown into the fire due to injury, and his debut against the Las Vegas Raiders went as poorly as it could have. The former […]
Despite being one of college football's best and most accomplished blockers for years, Zak Zinter will need time to adjust to the NFL. The third-round pick of the Cleveland Browns was thrown into the fire due to injury, and his debut against the Las Vegas Raiders went as poorly as it could have.
The former Michigan Wolverine team captain was viewed as a pro-ready, high-floor prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft, so what went wrong?
Zinter replaced star right guard Wyatt Teller in the Browns' lineup, and this was supposed to be a glimpse of Cleveland's future on the interior offensive line. Teller's growing salary and Joel Bitonio's age make it more likely than not that the unit will be reset in the next two years. However, Zinter's debut was concerning.
PFF had only three guards graded worse than Zinter, both in overall and pass protection grades. Zinter's 27.4 pass-blocking grade is unfathomably bad. In 59 total snaps and 42 pass-blocking snaps, Zinter allowed one sack, one hit, and one hurry,
Zinter performed better in run-blocking, grading closer to average at 53.6. His highlight was plowing a hole for Jerome Ford on this massive run.
Unfortunately, though, Zinter has a long way to go when it comes to the rest of his game. The Browns' offense has been a mess far beyond Zinter, but he needs to play better. It's especially painful considering that Dominick Puni, taken by the San Francisco 49ers one pick after Zinter, was graded as the second-best guard in Week 4.
The former Michigan guard at least has somewhere to build off now. The Raiders have a tough defensive front and aggressively brought heat toward quarterback Deshaun Watson. It worked, and the Browns' line struggled beyond just one player.
