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Kingsley Suamataia, OT, BYU (Sophomore)

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Rayane M

Back for the 2024 NFL Draft edition, The Trick Play team is once again offering to immerse you in the heart of the event through the scouting reports of Rayane and Valentin. Who will become the next gem of the pro world and who, on the contrary, risks a spectacular flop?
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Strengths :

  • explosiveness
  • Good football IQ and reading ability
  • Shows some impressive flashes
  • Good mobility
  • Good power

 

Weaknesses :

  • Plays too high
  • Hands placement
  • Footwork
  • Bad nasty side
  • Occasional lack of power 
  • Sometimes too passive
  • Shows concerning lapses at times
  • Slow hands
  • Extremely raw
  • Plays off balance
 

TTProfil

 
Although Kingsley Suamataia seems to have a decent rating thanks to some interesting aspects of his game, he remains a player still very green in his style of play (no joke about him being a former Oregon Ducks player, please) and a player on whom I am not necessarily as enthusiastic as the American consensus. So let's see why.
 
To begin with, as usual, let's look at Kingsley's strengths, and if we talk about his strengths, we inevitably have to mention his explosiveness, which oozes from his game. He starts quickly on his Takeoff which sometimes allows him to immediately gain the advantage over his counterpart and be able to dominate them right away. This is a good point considering how explosive NFL caliber Edge rushers are as well.
Suamataia also possesses very good mobility to utilize for his future offensive coordinator.
 
Kingsley also has good football IQ, often recognizing threats to pick up on certain blitzes or Stunts to protect his QB. Unfortunately his Footwork and his hand placement doesn't always follow through, and sometimes we can see him recognize the threat but not be able to pick it up because of that.
 
One thing to note, however, is the few nice flashes, and sometimes even really impressive ones, in his tapes, whether it's in pass protection situations or run blocking situations. Just because of these flashes, he's likely to excite boards that see a potential ceiling for Kingsley.

Last point that I really liked about Kingsley is his good power, especially at the initial point of impact on run blocks where he's able to generate quite a lot of momentum which allows him to create good Rushing lanes for his ball carriers. That being said, Kingsley will need to be careful not to get too off balance by putting too much weight forward or by lunging, but we'll come back to that later.
 
 
Let's talk about his weaknesses, or rather the points that I dislike about him, and as you may have seen during the recap of his strengths and weaknesses, there are many more of them.
 
Starting with playing too high, indeed, Suamataia really struggles to get down to the level of the defender he's facing in order to take advantage of a good Leverage. This is especially concerning now that he was listed at 6'4" during the Senior Bowl and not at 6'6" as previously announced by BYU.
Moreover, I find that it is even more noticeable when he faces a powerful player, where this aspect of his game where his Leverage which could clearly help him because Kingsley can sometimes lack a bit of power, and when that happens, he can get pushed back on his inside, but also, and that's more worrying, on his outside. 
 
Kingsley's hand placement can be very inconsistent. While he is sometimes capable of locking down the block effectively, it still happens too infrequently. There are many instances where he places his hands too high, too far to the outside, or sometimes even behind the defensive lineman. If he doesn't want to become a penalty magnet once he reaches the NFL, he will have to work on gaining consistency and producing more quality reps in this regard. Failing to improve his hand placement, he should at least work on better concealing potential holding penalties.
Adding to that, his hands are quite slow and sometimes take too long to engage, allowing defenders to easily swat them away and quickly get past him. This further compounds the issues in this particular area.
 
I personally don't like his Footwork In general, whether it's in pass protection or run blocking situations, his footwork is still quite mediocre. At times, it almost seems like Kingsley struggles to move efficiently. While he can be explosive on occasion, he can also appear clumsy and not very agile, which is quite puzzling.
Adding to that is his overall imbalance, as Kingsley tends to lean heavily forward when blocking, whether it's in running or passing plays. Once he reaches a higher level of play, this tendency could quickly become a liability against technically skilled defenders who will seek to exploit this weakness.

Another aspect I don't like about Kingsley is that he can sometimes act foolishly. While some offensive linemen exhibit a nasty streak on the field, in his case, it's the kind that isn't beneficial. Several times on tape, he can be seen making unnecessary shoulder charges or blocks at the end of a play on an opponent who isn't even involved in the action. This is precisely the kind of behavior that can result in costly penalties.
 
On certain plays, I find that Kingsley is too passive. Too often, he seems to be reacting to what his defender or his own offense is doing rather than simply executing his assignment and blocking a player. While this tendency has decreased over the course of the season, he still sometimes acts more as a spectator than an active participant, and that can quickly become frustrating.
Equally frustrating, Kingsley sometimes has really concerning lapses where it's unclear what he's doing, but he completely misses his opponent by swinging at air. It's both incomprehensible and really worrying. 

Finally, Kingsley is an extremely Rawprospect, We're still far from having an NFL-level tackle; I think even as a rotational option, he'd still be just scraping by.
 

If Kingsley Suamataia has indeed progressed throughout the season, in my opinion, it's still not enough to justify seeing him so high in most of the mocks and big boards I've seen so far.
So, yes, Kingsley has potential, and he often shows flashes of brilliance, whether it's in pass protection or run blocking situations. However, these are just flashes; alongside them, there is an absolutely massive amount of work to be done on the player. To see progress that would allow him to shine at the highest level, we're talking about a multi-season effort because on some reps, it's truly catastrophic.
So perhaps some may think that a repositioning as a guard could help, but given the mistakes he can still make, he'll still need to work immensely on that front as well.
That said, with his reading abilities, good explosiveness, sometimes overly observant nature, inconsistent hand placement, and especially his footwork However, with his underwhelming performance as a tackle, a move to guard could greatly benefit him. It would conceal his weaknesses while allowing him to shine even more with his strengths. Now that he has been measured at 6'4" rather than 6'6", I believe this positional change makes even more sense.

So, let's not get too excited too quickly about Suamataia, who is still, despite his impressive progress this season, a player with a lot of raw potential. Personally, I had him ranked quite low, but after reviewing his season, seeing his progression curve, and considering his potential move from OT to OG following the new measurements at the Senior Bowl, he has moved up a few spots in my rankings. For those who may not know me yet, in my view, a tackle cannot be less than 6'5" in today's NFL (if the player is truly exceptional and measures at 6'4", I might reconsider, but at 6'3", it's not even conceivable). Similarly, it is out of the question to have an interior offensive lineman over 6'5" for several reasons. Therefore, Kingsley's height change from 6'6" to 6'4" has completely altered my projection for him in several aspects.

If I were a GM or coach, Kingsley Suamataia would be a 4th-round pick for me, and not before, as a tackle. There are too many areas that need work for him to become a solid player in the NFL. While the potential for development is promising, there's no guarantee that he'll be coached, utilized, or developed in the best possible way. Therefore, it's a big gamble, and personally, I'm not willing to take that risk too early. The only way to limit potential losses is to draft him later, so the 4th round represents the value I would be willing to assign to Suamataia as a tackle.
As a guard, however, he becomes a prospect that, in my opinion, would deserve a selection in the 3rd round based on the potential he has. 

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