Although it's not very original, with Tate Ratledge, it's a new Georgia-stamped Offensive Lineman who comes to the Draft with outstanding athletic abilities.
If I didn't have to wait to see him at the Combine to understand that Tate is a mobile, explosive and powerful player, his performance at this event, which is particularly closely watched by draft experts and soccer fans, only confirmed the flashes shown on the tapes.
While this doesn't necessarily make him a good player, as it does for many others, it does give NFL teams an important indication of his ability to match the athletic prowess of big-league players.

 

His size is also an important factor in determining whether or not he'll be of interest to certain teams, since there's not much more to say than that Tate is ready for the NFL. 
At 6’6 and 308lbs, Tate has a frame that’s closer to a Tackle than a Guard, which will naturally appeal to GMs who love big-bodied players. While I don’t think his wingspan was the initial reason for placing him at the Guard position, it’s clear that it won’t allow him to be tested at Tackle in the pros.

 

While Tate initially seems to rely mostly on his physical traits, one rather technical aspect that really impressed me—and that he has developed over time—is his hip positioning and his ability to open and flip his hips. 
He's really good at this, and it helps him a lot, especially in run situations, to open up real lanes for his ball carriers when he executes it well. Whether it's on power runs or zone plays, it's not uncommon to see Tate try to seal the defender with his hip to really create a highway for his runner, and that's something I appreciate about him.
That said, Ratledge could become a much better blocker on the ground game with a few improvements we'll see later.

 

Another very good point with Tate, especially for an interior Offensive Lineman, is his strong awareness. He's constantly trying to read what's happening in front of him, and it's particularly noticeable in passing situations where Ratledge keeps his head up to see where he can best help. He's even sometimes able to keep reading the play while engaged with a defender. He's a smart football player, and once again, he shows good technique in this area.
Small downside though, I noticed that he can sometimes overdo it on this specific point. In his effort to do things right, Tate sometimes overcommits by staying too long with his primary threat, which puts him behind when it comes to picking up the new threat on stunt situations. As I said, it comes from a good place since Tate is trying to help his teammate as much as possible, but in doing so, he really puts himself in a tough spot.

 

Lastly, a key point with Ratledge that could tip the scales between him and another player is his floor. Tate comes in with plenty of experience at a fixed position and with an already extremely solid level of play, both in pass protection and run blocking.
His play translates well to what is done in the NFL, and he should, without too much trouble, be able to secure a spot on an offensive line after the draft. I would be truly surprised to see Tate need an adjustment period, and while I can't promise he'll shine in his first pro game, I have no doubt that he'll be able to do the job right away. 

 

 

Yes, but Tate Ratledge has one big flaw which he'll have to work on enormously if he wants to progress, and I'd even go so far as to say that it's clearly the number 1 point of importance for Ratledge. His footwork alone is dragging him down to such an extent that it's sad, but I don't find it too hard to believe that Tate could really become an incredible player by solving his footwork problems.
Among the many footwork issues with Ratledge, one of the most common is his legs constantly stopping, whether at impact or even when the block is engaged, his legs can come to a halt. This is something that can be observed both in run situations and in pass protection, and it really works against him. In fact, it's quite simple—most of his reps are compromised because of this, and the lack of activity in his lower body also affects other aspects of his play. It's such a shame.
Another classic issue with his footwork is his base narrowing. Yes, because while Tate often has his legs at a standstill, he is still capable of having some good reps where his legs are moving, and he shows that he can drive his opponents. However, naturally, the footwork issue arises when he narrows his base, which makes him vulnerable to being off-balanced by any sudden change of direction, causing him to lose a block that was initially secured. So, we have another area to work on with his footwork, but it's not the last one.

 

For readability and to space out the block, I'm skipping a line here, but we’re still discussing his footwork. Because of this poor footwork, Tate struggles a lot in pass protection when he tries to use his anchor. This is a technique widely used by offensive linemen in modern football, and while Ratledge's anchor is far from terrible, it's certainly not his strength either, and this is largely due to his footwork. Let me explain: the anchoring technique relies on two different approaches depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the linemen who use it. There’s the school of heavy and powerful linemen, and the school of lighter, more mobile linemen who rely more on technique. For the former, it’s a given. What allows them to anchor so easily is their weight; they let the defender collide with their massive bodies, and their weight and power allow them to stop the defender’s progress dead in its tracks.
For lighter offensive linemen, it's a different story since they can't rely on their weight to stop the defender cold. Instead, they need to use various techniques to gradually stop or slow down the defender before they can properly anchor into the ground. For these linemen, the techniques used vary depending on their strengths, but we might see a big, explosive punch that halts the defender and allows the lineman to anchor, or they might make direct contact with the defender and then take several quick, explosive steps to slow the defender down until they come to a complete stop. Another technique is the Power hop, which is widely used in the NFL but less common in college football. This involves using the arms to reduce the initial impact of the defender, followed by small backward hops to slow the defender down in fits and starts. It's harder, but once it's mastered, it's very effective.
Now that we've covered that, let's go back to what concerns us, Tate's case. He most often defaults to the second method, trying to take multiple steps to slow down the defender before anchoring. However, since his footwork is slow and uneven, his "recovery speed" on his anchor isn't good enough. So, even when Tate doesn't lose the rep and successfully blocks his player, it's not uncommon to see the QB compressed in the pocket because Tate has been pushed back by 3 or 4 yards, thus almost pinning the QB to him. This forces the QB to make an extra effort to move properly in the pocket, or sometimes it even causes him to panic, thinking the pocket is collapsing, which leads to the QB scrambling or rushing his decisions, often resulting in poor choices.
Once again, Footwork has room for improvement, which could enable Tate to make a real leap forward in terms of quality. 

 

Still on his footwork, I also noticed a small issue with his recovery on stunts or blitzes. As I mentioned in the strengths section, Tate, in an effort to do things right, sometimes overdoes it to help his teammates in these situations. It's not uncommon to see him rotate his shoulders when passing off a defender to a teammate, making sure the defender doesn't slip away during the transition. The problem arises when Tate rotates his shoulders because his footwork follows the movement, causing his hips to pivot as well, leaving him poorly positioned to recover the threats and, in addition, completely opening the door to a delay blitz.
This point is less important because it happens less often than the previous ones, but it's still present and can be extremely dangerous for the QB's health, and once again is the result of a Foowork which is therefore bad overall and represents, in my opinion, the number 1 area of work for Tate Ratledge.