Browns Film Room: OL Austin Corbett’s strengths

With the first pick in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns selected offensive lineman Austin Corbett of Nevada. He was a player I had not done enough research on and so I really wanted to watch his film to see what he is all about. The Browns needed an offensive tackle after the retirement of Joe Thomas. But, many draft analysts projected him as an interior offensive lineman, giving me more intrigue to investigate who the Browns drafted at the top of the second round.

After watching Corbett’s film, I believe he can play left tackle for the Browns. He has some work to do to become a NFL starting tackle, but the skill set is there.

So, what do the Browns have in Corbett? Today, we will examine the strengths of Corbett. Let’s take a look at the film to diagnose the newest Browns offensive lineman’s strengths.

Browns 2018 NFL Draft Film Room Series

QB Baker Mayfield: Strengths and Weaknesses

CB Denzel Ward: Strengths and Weaknesses

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Strong/Active/Violent hands

Corbett’s best assets are his hands. He keeps them active, always moving them as the defender moves. His hands are strong and violent. The offensive lineman can lay a heavy punch on a defender, getting defenders off balance with a single strike. The strength of his hands allows him to catch rushers and be able to contain them and their momentum from getting past him. Here are some plays that show off his hands.

The first play comes against Boise State where Corbett is lined up at left tackle in pass protection situation. The offensive lineman comes out of his stance and is faced with a speed rush on his outside. He drops back and the rusher tries to stick his arm in Corbett’s chest to cut around the corner. But, Corbett does a masterful job and chops the arm away, causing the rusher to fall to the ground and get pancaked.

The second play here shows Corbett’s active hands versus a Northwestern rusher. Corbett comes off the line and is aggressive, landing a quick jab at the rusher before the rusher tries to initiate with him. The rusher tries to perform a spin move on the tackle, but Corbett is able to keep his left hand on the rusher throughout the move and keep his right hand active to not allow the rusher to swipe it to the left and cause him to get off balance. After averting that move, Corbett keeps the rusher at bay for the rest of the play.

The final play is against Hawaii in a run blocking situation. Corbett comes off the line and closes inside on the defender on his inside. He lays a huge punch on the defender, who was engaged with the left guard, knocking him off balance to the right and away from the run play to the left. Corbett then gets to the second level and goes after the linebacker. He makes one jab and causes the linebacker to stumble and fall to the ground. This play shows the immense power he can unload through his hands.

Nasty/Finisher

Corbett is a strong run blocker and one of the reasons he is successful at this part of his game is because of his nasty style of play and his ability to finish blocks. His tape is fun to watch in large part to his ability to dominate rushers and play to the final whistle. He does not let defenders off the hook until the play is over. Here are just a few examples of his nasty style and his finishing ability.

The first play is a run play versus Boise State. Corbett, who has a tight end to his left, comes off the line and drives into the left defensive end. The running back is running to Corbett’s outside, so the tackle knows he needs to drive the defender out of the area. He is able to drive the defender inside and away from the runner. Corbett is able to continue and drive the blocker to the right. He takes the defender completely out of the play and does not stop driving the defender until the play is over.

The second play comes against Northwestern in a pass protection situation. Corbett comes off the line against a rusher who tries to do a power move. The rusher tries to use one arm to crash the pocket and push Corbett into the backfield. But, Corbett had not of it. He quickly swiped the rushers arm down and pancaked the rusher to the ground. He showed of his violent hands and his nasty play to finish of the block when the rusher was falling to the ground.

The last play is a zone read run play versus Hawaii where Corbett is lined up against the left edge rusher on the line. Corbett gets out of his stance and takes one step forward to fire a jab at the rusher. The rusher then sees the run play going the opposite direction, so he tries to get away from Corbett and follow the play to the right. Though, Corbett has other plans. He pushes the rusher again upfield and then finishes him off with another violent push that knocks the defender off his feet. This play showed his want to finish the play and his nastiness.

Patient/Smooth/Fluid movement skills

Corbett is a big man at 6-foot-4, 306 pounds, but he moves really well for a man his size. He has the ability to move in space and has a run blocker, he can get to the second level with good fluidity and quickness. His feet may need work technique-wise, but he shows fluid feet with the ability to move side to side with relative ease. His movement skills look smooth and do not look like he rushing anything. Here are some examples of the left tackle’s fluid movement skills.

Corbett is faced with a pass protection situation against Northwestern in the first play. Corbett shows off his fluid and smooth movement skills in this pass set. He comes off the line and quickly engages with the rusher. He calmly slides right along with the rusher and does not give any ground to the rusher. Corbett never rushed his movements and won the battle easily.

The second play is also against Northwestern in a pass protection situation. This time Corbett shows his ability to change direction. He comes off the line and is faced with a rusher who tries to get the corner. But, the rusher quickly realizes he has no chance to get around Corbett because of Corbett is fluidly sliding with him throughout the attempt. So, the rusher tries to do a spin move back to the inside, but Corbett easily moves his feet back the other direction without getting off balance, staying with the rusher throughout the move until the pass is thrown downfield.

The last play comes against Northwestern once again, this time in a run blocking situation. Corbett is the lead blocker for the run play to the left side of the line. He fires off the line, and with the help of the left guard, pushes the defensive end inside and out of the running lane. Corbett, then, moves to the second level to try and block down the field for his runner. Though, the running back is tackled before his block downfield could help spring him, Corbett is able to move in space and catch the linebacker to make a block on him. It just shows that he has the ability to move to the second level and work in space to find and make blocks.

Awareness/Intelligence

Corbett shows great awareness and intelligence on the field. He can read the rush in front of him and choose the correct angle and person to block in each situation. He almost always puts himself in the right position to block the rush, even against two-man stunts. Corbett knows what he needs to do to be successful. Here are just some examples of his awareness and intelligence on the field.

The first play is a run play versus Northwestern. Corbett almost single handily creates the hole for the running back (with the help of the lead blocker on the left of the quarterback). Corbett fires off the ball and crashes inside to push the left defensive tackle out of the way. But, Corbett then peels off that block and picks up the filling linebacker in the gap. The tackle sees that the linebacker is in position to make the stop, so he knows he has to move the linebacker out of the way. He is able to shove him to the outside, allowing the runner a huge hole to run through.

The second play is another one versus Northwestern but in a pass protection situation. Corbett is faced with a twist stunt by the two defensive linemen on the left side of the line. Corbett reads the play quickly. He sees the defensive end start to go behind the interior defensive lineman and Corbett quickly reacts by picking up the interior defensive lineman, so the left guard can come off of him to pick up the looping defensive end. The left guard is late realizing this, but Corbett helps him by pushing the interior defensive lineman inside just a bit more, so the looping rusher has to go a farther distance to get around the corner. It allowed the quarterback time to throw the ball before the rusher could get free. The subtle awareness by Corbett helped save a possible sack.

The final play comes against Hawaii in a running play. Corbett initially comes inside and helps double team the left defensive end. But, Corbett sees the linebacker come up from the second level and try to get around the edge. Corbett quickly diagnoses that and switches over to the linebacker. He shows his fluid movement skills to switch over to the linebacker in time to close him off from getting to the backfield. His quick recognition helped him get there in time.