Player: Wanya Morris
School: Oklahoma
Measurables:
- Height: 6’5” (NFL Combine)
- Weight: 307 (NFL Combine)
- 40: 5.1 (NFL Combine)
- 10 Yard Split: 1.73 (NFL Combine)
- Bench: DNP
- Vertical Jump: 28.5” (NFL Combine)
- Broad Jump: 9’3” (NFL Combine)
- 3 Cone: DNP
- 20 Yard Shuttle: DNP
- Other Notes: Morris suffered what looked to be a brutal hamstring injury on his second 40 attempt. No bench, 3 cone, 20 yard shuttle, or positional drills as a result.
Graded Offensive Line Traits:
- First-Level Run Blocking: 7.5/10
- Second-Level Run Blocking: 5.5/10
- Pass Blocking: 6.25/10
- Blitz/Stunt Pickup: 5/10
- Pulling(if applicable): 6.75/10
- Footwork: 7.75/10
- Hands: 6/10
- Initial Contact: 7/10
Prospect Grade: 51.75/80; 64.7%- Great starter with potential to be a top tier starter
Projected Draft Day: Mid-Late Round 2
Player Comparison: Dion Dawkins
Player Summary:
Morris is a really good offensive tackle prospect in this class. He is yet another Oklahoma tackle that is higher on our board than he is for most people. He is an effective blocker in both the run and pass games; however, he does have some technical issues and red flags.
His kick slide technique looks good, he takes short choppy steps as he drops back; however it can be inconsistent. Sometimes his short choppy steps literally look like he’s running backward. I will say that it did actually help him on a couple of his pass drops, but for the most part he shouldn’t be running backward. It could cause him to drop too far or be caught off balance. He needs to work on keeping his kick slide consistent. Every rep should look nearly the same. If anyone remembers Joe Thomas, his pass drop was the same on every single rep, and he is known for his consistency.
Another technical issue I noticed was his hands. His hands weren’t bad, it is more so a question of consistency than anything. Morris needs to work on his “strike point”. The “strike point” is where you are supposed to attack the defender you are supposed to block. In most situations that is going to be the pec area of the defender. Morris will shoot his hands wide at times grabbing the shoulder pad area. The other issue with his hands is that Morris certainly packs a punch on impact, but he could work on grabbing cloth or grabbing pads and securing control after making contact. You can tell on some of his pass drops that after he lands his first strike he struggles to control his rusher because he keeps striking but can’t gain control, and it can cause him to lose reps.
Due to an inconsistent strike point and not controlling his defender after contact, Morris can be a penalty risk. He can get his arms wrapped around defenders when he is trying to gain control over the defender. The last technical issue I noticed was that he plays high at times, which causes him to play with minimal to no leverage. You can clearly tell on tape too that on certain reps, defensive lineman who fire out from their stance can get the best of Morris simply by out-leveraging him.
Onto some of Morris’ positives. First and foremost, Morris moves extremely well in all aspects of his game: his kick slide, moving up to the second level, pulling, in all aspects he just looks like he’s quick. Morris also does a really nice job of keeping a strong center of gravity. He doesn’t reach for his blocks with his upper body often. My final note is that he’s really good at getting angles on his assignment. Sometimes Morris just looked quicker than his defender and was able to beat him to the gap and turn him, and other times it looked like Morris really benefited from playing in the Big 12 against a ton of 3-man fronts. Either way, Morris is always looking for the best way to block his defender.