OL Cody Mauch is the diamond in the rough of the 2023 NFL Draft: Film Breakdown
In this film breakdown, we take a look at North Dakota St. LT Cody Mauch, an incredibly fun prospect to evaluate, who absolutely dominates at the FCS level.
He started his career as a walk-on TE at NDSU, but transitioned to left tackle, playing over 2,000 snaps there in his career. Mauch is a fluid and explosive athlete, who is an incredible blocker at the 2nd level, in space. He's got great body control and movements skills, which allow him to move exceptionally well in space for an offensive lineman. He is also a dominant run blocker, and was arguably the most well-rounded OL in the FCS last season. His only real weakness is his pass blocking. His tape is rough, and the talent he faced is so far below what he will see in the NFL, that I expect teams to have a hard time figuring what to do with Mauch in that regard. I expect him to move to guard in the NFL, however, his athleticism should allow him to compete at whatever position a team needs him to play.
Strengths:
- Elite functional athleticism: Mauch is a tall athlete with great movement ability, quick out of his sets, fleet-footed, and explosive.
- Power and grip strength: Mauch has good raw power, the ability to shock defenders at contact, and can seal off edge rushers on run plays with his grip strength.
- Pass protection skills: Mauch is able to stay square with opponents, maintain a strong base, and keep equilibrium while also adjusting when needed. He has superb foot speed on recovery, efficient and calculated hand usage, and good awareness.
- Mauler mentality and awareness: Mauch brings a constant energy and tenacity as a competitor, is a constant hustle player, and has great spatial and angle awareness.
Weaknesses:
- Proportional length: Mauch's arm length is likely under 33", which is below average for someone his height (6'6"). This puts a slight cap on his raw-power capacity and can lead to balance issues when over-extending.
- Weight and core strength: Mauch weighs 303 pounds, which is light for his size, and his core strength isn't elite. He struggles to plant and suffocate rushes off initial contact and can get worked upright after contact.
- Technique and balance: Mauch sometimes plays too tall while mirroring rushers to the apex. When he's upright and has his hands too wide at contact, he can be easy to topple off-balance against opposing power.
- Hip stiffness and hand placement: Mauch shows slight hip stiffness at the apex at times and can't always successively rotate base while matching rushers.
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