Film Evaluation: OL JB Nelson

Penn State picked up commitment No. 13 Friday afternoon in junior college offensive lineman JB Nelson. Listed at 6-foot-5, 320 pounds, Nelson is expected to be an offensive guard at the next level, and he'll have four years to play three since last year didn't count for junior college athletes. He's the second prospect from Lackawanna College to commit to the Nittany Lions, joining safety Tyrece Mills.

So, what can Penn State fans expect from the staff's newest addition?

BWI analyst Thomas Frank Carr breaks down Nelson below.

Related: OL JB Nelson discusses his commitment to Penn State

Length: Nelson has a nearly-ideal body type to play offensive line. He’s got incredibly long arms (35-inch reach), a thick torso and natural power. He combines this with good speed and enough agility to be able to execute his assignments well. From a testing and movement standpoint, he’s a great find at 6-foot-5, 320 pounds with room to grow and reshape his body.

Flexibility and Leverage: Despite his length, the Lackawanna lineman can get a very low profile in his stance. He’s flexible through his hips and doesn’t seem to have any impingements or tightness in his movements. Nelson also shows good initial quickness out of his stance to flip his hips and get into the gap on reach blocks as well as sealing off the backside of runs. His leverage and length give him tremendous power and make him a fairly complete athletic prospect.

Balance: While he’s not facing supreme talent at the junior college level in his two games on film, Nelson does show great body control and balance. He never seems to overextend himself and takes controlled, measured steps to his assignment. This allows him to get a great initial impact on his blocks and means he rarely misses. He does all of this despite some limitations that we’ll get to next.

Weight Distribution: Despite his good movement skills and his good balance, Nelson is a bit top-heavy in his body composition. He’s lighter in the pants than you’d like and working to add mass to his lower half will both make him stronger, as well as improve his lateral quickness. The question will be if that continues once he faces more athletic defenders.

Second Reaction Plays: Nelson has a great initial burst out of his stance and does a great job of executing his initial assignment. Yet when he has to work to the second level, sustain a block, or react laterally, he struggles to maintain his technique.

Pass Blocking: Most of Nelson’s struggles in pass protection are when he’s in obvious passing situations or at the end of a half. He simply lacks the foot quickness and lateral explosion to play tackle. When he is stressed his fundamentals lapse and he begins to lope through his kick slide as well as throw his hands wide of the target. While it’s important to point out these issues, Nelson will likely be a guard and shouldn't be faced with these problems going forward.

Right Guard: It doesn’t necessarily matter which position, interior offensive line is where Nelson is destined to play. He’s got the power, length and leverage to be a road-grading interior linemen where his deficiencies in space become less relevant.

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