Overall
I view Nate Solder as a pretty overrated prospect in this years draft, and while I think many draft analysts seem to have caught on, many still view him as the classes best, or second best prospect. In my opinion, Solder is just too tall. While guys like Orlando Pace and Jonathan Ogden have been his height and succeeded, Solder, although athletic, is not nearly the athlete that those 2 guys were. He just has a hard time getting down low enough to engage defenders, especially speed rushers that can bend well, and his relatively short arms don't do him any favors either. Solder also needs to hit the weight room and bulk up, he performed poorly at the Combine at the bench press, and watching him on film he is not strong at the point of attack, and will get driven backwards occasionally. His footwork is also far from polished, and he will definitely take some time to get that ironed out. He has a lot of tools to be a solid tackle, but the way he is right now, I personally would not invest in him. If he can get stronger, and iron out his technique, I think he can be an above average right tackle in a ZBS, but I don't think he will ever become an upper-echilon Left Tackle as many are projecting.
One of my "Co-Experts" disagrees with my assessment of Solder, check out our debate here.
Nate Solder Debate
