Steve Avila is a Second String NFL Guard

TCU offensive lineman Steve Avila is a mid-round value in the 2023 NFL Draft

That’s according to the game film that’s embedded below for you to watch.

No question, he’s a big looking wide-bodied presence. He takes up space and there is value in that.

However, I thought he was average as a center in 2021. Avila looked like a guard who was trying to play center on game film. His snaps tended to look low and his snaps lacked velocity. That caused me to place a fifth-round grade on him in the article “Center Steve Avila Isn’t It,” and TCU agreed.

Their agreement was found in the fact the Horned Frogs moved this left-handed center to guard in 2022. While he looked better, he’s by no means a first-round talent like some mainstream draft platforms have suggested.

What game film are they looking at?

CBS, Pro Football Focus, The Draft Network, Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, NFL.com, Fox Sports and The Athletic all have put first-round grades on Avila.

The thing that is most troubling is the lack of supporting evidence offered to go with these grades.

I can’t help but wonder if Avila played for 1-8 Rutgers (as an example) instead of TCU (who played in the National Championship Game) if he would have received as high of a grade from these platforms, because on game film, he looks average.

Has he been overhyped due to TCU’s success?

There’s nothing dominant or elite about Avila’s pass or run blocking – – and that’s a first-round prerequisite.

Pass protection letdowns

When I think of a first-round prospect, I don’t think of players who lack polish. These are the guys who are supposed to be the top of the top and the best of the best.

I don’t see that when I watched Avila pass protect. I didn’t see it as a center in 2021, and I didn’t see it as a guard in 2022.

Sure, he uses his big body well to shield and take up space, but he is so inconsistent from a hand and footwork technique perspective. He’s susceptible to opening the gate (scouting term used when an offensive lineman gets turned to the side, which provides a clear straight path for the pass rusher to get to the quarterback).

I’m concerned about how Avila will do against the blitz and fast gap-shooting defensive tackles in the NFL.

For a big man – – it was also disturbing how hard Avila could get rocked backward by authoritative bullrushes.

Soft

This is the last word anybody in the world wants to hear when they think of an offensive lineman.

However, how else can Avila be described when he gets no movement at the line of scrimmage and he shows no dominance as a run blocker?

I don’t understand how someone his size isn’t moving people off the ball.

He showed average and inconsistent sustain run blocking – – often blocking just long enough or not long enough.

Any guard in the league or any street-free agent can do that. There’s nothing special about any of that.

#79 Steve Avila 6-foot-4, 330 pounds

Daniel Kelly’s Final 2023 NFL Draft Grade: Fourth-Round (I would not select him)

Projected by 9.7% (up from 0.9% on December 6) of the NFL Draft Community to be a first-round pick as of April 21, 2023 (nflmockdraftdatabase.com)

2022 game film reviewed: Michigan, Kansas State, and Oklahoma (click to view games watched to form this evaluation)

2023 NFL Draft Scouting Report

Wide soft body, high effort limited area guard who is inconsistent in pass and run blocking. Unequally distributed power. Showed could handle straight-up vanilla pass rushes, but struggled dropping weight giving up ground when bull rushed. Good in tandem blocks. Looks to help out. Decent, but not great pass protection technique. Inconsistent against stunts and blitzes. On runs, solid initial contact. Did his best to maintain and hold the point, but lost control too often. Struggled in space at the second level and beyond.

Final words

Avila hit his ceiling in college.

Daniel Kelly is a former NFL Scout with the New York Jets. He was hired on the regime which featured Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Scott Pioli, Mike Tannenbaum, and Dick Haley. He currently writes for Sports Illustrated New York Jets and he is the Editor-in-Chief for First Round Mock. For more information about him visit his website at whateverittakesbook.com. He can be followed on Twitter @firstroundmock.