Right, and I can’t remember where I was first alerted to look for it, it might have been him. But once you go into Mesidor’s tape wanting to see that bull rush for yourself… well, it’s just non-existent. He’s basically an interior DPR (check out the difference between his pressure rate lined up outside vs inside, it’s striking), killing the interior guys with his juice. But interior DPR is a really strange profile and most teams aren’t gonna go for someone that specialized.
That he is, and not only that he’s already a captain at a super young age and supposed to be a great kid. Our FO will like him for sure. I was sky high on Faulk coming into the year, but he did not have a good 2025. Still, the upside as a power end is plain to see, though I doubt he’ll ever go too far in solving our pressure problems.
Mesidor is the finesse guy we’re talking about.
The thing is, I don’t really feel like I’m sticking my neck out. The lateral athletic issues are all over his tape. He gets beat over and over again by quickness, especially across his face, then he overcompensates for it and gets beat outside. The argument for him isn’t an argument for the player he is, it’s for the player people hope he will become (which isn’t all that unusual at OT). But in Proctor’s case, that means doing something to improve his lateral quickness, either through better technique - he’s got plenty of improvements to make there - or as @CuriousHusker says, by losing weight. Most of the bets on him fall into this latter category, the belief is if he’s THIS athletic at 360 - even if it’s predominantly linear juice - imagine what he’d be like at 330!
Personally, I’ll just let someone else make that bet. The vast majority of guys who struggle with weight never fix it, especially if they don’t start fixing it in college. There’s also a real dearth of gigantic OTs who actually make it in the league. You can count the hits on one hand, and they all had one thing in common: preternaturally light feet for guys that size. Ogden, Mims, Mailata and his freaky 6.66 3-cone. To me, that is not Proctor. Not as he is now.
Anyway I’m certainly not alone, there are quite a few people who’ve been keeping track all season who view him the same. In fact on the sicko boards like reddit for people who follow the draft all year, it had sort of become the norm. Now guys who are coming back to it after other obligations like DJ and Zierlein are bumping him back up, and no doubt his testing will do the same.
