Ross Pierschbacher - 2019 NFL Draft Scouting Report

I'm kind of surprised there isn't more talk about Ross Pierschbacher, the center out of Alabama. Well, I guess I can understand why there isn't much talk. He plays center, which is about as unsexy as it gets, but he was a four-year starter at Alabama, and I was always impressed with him in the time where I focused on the play of the Crimson Tide's offensive line. Now, is it a little weird that I am focusing on an Alabama offensive lineman, and it's not even the highly touted Jonah Williams? Yes, that is weird, but Pierschbacher is from my home state of Iowa and originally committed to the Hawkeyes so I have kept an eye on him and closely watched his game against LSU to get a better idea of him as a prospect.

On this first play, he is all alone against a nose tackle that has a significant weight advantage on him, but he manages to still get the job done.

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Even though he is getting pushed back some, he is able to control the defensive lineman where he is never a real threat to get to his quarterback. He does this by getting lower and being underneath the defensive player's pads where even if he is getting pushed back, he remains in control with his hands inside.

Here is an impressive push from Pierschbacher in pass protection.

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On this play, he manages to push the nose tackle all the way around to the far end of his right tackle to give his quarterback plenty of room in the pocket, but the LSU defense left nobody open so the quarterback is forced to scramble late in the play.

And finally, here is Pierschbacher impressing on a run play.

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He shows good drive in pushing his man off the ball and continuing to turn him down the field to give his running back a clear choice, and at that point, the defender is already five yards off the line of scrimmage.

One thing that I would like to see Pierschbacher improve on is finishing his blocks. He would often do well at the beginning of the block but not fully commit to punishing his opponent until the end of the play. It tightened up some spaces for some of his running backs when he could have kept blowing through the defensive lineman.

With Pierschbacher, you're not getting a human highlight reel like Quenton Nelson. He's going to be fundamentally sound but not a physical freak who is going to blow people away. What he does provide is consistency and a solid presence in the middle of the line. Here is his athletic spider chart from the combine, and it certainly isn't going to blow anyone away.

Pedestrian might be too kind, but if you click over to his comparisons, the name Pat Elflein jumps off the page, and further down is Mike Pouncey. I think the former is a very good comparison as it was a guy who fell in the draft since he wasn't a great athlete but was able to come in immediately and be a good starter who could have a ten-year career.

Pierschbacher is likely a guy who will fall to the middle rounds, but considering he was good enough to be a four-year starter at Alabama and showed the versatility of moving all around the interior of the offensive line, you're going to end up with at least a solid starter with potential for more, but it is a fairly low ceiling.

Previous Scouting Reports:

Noah Fant - Iowa Hawkeyes - Tight End
Dwayne Haskins - Ohio State Buckeyes - Quarterback
TJ Hockenson - Iowa Hawkeyes Tight End
Amani Hooker - Iowa Hawkeyes - Safety
Josh Jacobs - Alabama Crimson Tide - Running Back
Tyree Jackson - Buffalo Bulls - Quarterback
Daniel Jones - Duke Blue Devils - Quarterback
Drew Lock - Missouri Tigers - Quarterback
Kyler Murray - Oklahoma Sooners - Quarterback
Anthony Nelson - Iowa Hawkeyes - Defensive End