2011 NFL Draft Player Profile | DeMarcus Love 

DeMarcus Love was a four star player coming out of David W. Carter High School. He was heavily recruited as a guard with versatility to play tackle and maybe even center at the next level.

Love started as a left guard for his sophomore and junior seasons, before making the switch to left tackle to protect Ryan Mallett’s blind side as a senior when Arkansas would have one of their best seasons of the last 15 years.

Player Name: DeMarcus Love

Position: Offensive Tackle

School: Arkansas

Height: 6’4 3/8

Weight: 315

Arm: 35 1/8

Hand: 9 1/2

Strengths

One of the big reasons Love ended up protecting the blind side was because of his athleticism. Love gets a good initial punch on his defender, and has strong arms to keep the defender from getting in on his body. He has an excellent drop stop in pass protection, and shows a nice ability to mirror his defender. He has quick feet when facing quick up field edge rushers, and can punch them away from his body. In the run game he gets to the second level quickly, and can throw defenders down with his strong arms.

Weaknesses

While he has quick feet, his technique is poor in pass protection, and will struggle with quick rushers that have an excellent inside move. He tends to lack good hand placement, sometimes getting on to the outside and putting himself into a position for a holding penalty. He doesn’t have the football IQ to play the left side and be a cerebral left tackle at the next level, so a switch to right tackle or guard may be best for Love.

Draft Range

Love’s quickness and agility will cause him to improve his draft stock to the late second-early third round. Look for Buffalo, Arizona, Cleveland, Dallas, Houston, and New Orleans all to take a heavy look at Love to play right tackle at the very least.

NFL Comparison: Willie Colon