SIS Football Rookie Handbook Preview: Ben Bredeson

Sports Info Solutions (SIS) brings you the second annual edition of The SIS Football Rookie Handbook, with scouting reports and statistical breakdowns on over 280 college football players who are likely to be drafted or signed as rookie free agents in 2020 (a glossary for the below stats can be found here). New features for this year include unique and informative NFL team pages, research deep-dives by the SIS R&D team, and—for the first time ever—the NCAA version of their flagship football statistic, Total Points.

Continuing our position-by-position preview of this year’s draft class, we shift our focus to offensive guards. As a scouting staff, we use common terminology to grade every trait that we evaluate. We use a 1-9 scale with a 1 representing a “Reject” grade and a 9 meaning a “Rare” grade for whatever trait we are evaluating. We spend a lot of time in our internal Scout School making sure that our scales are calibrated with one another, and this common scale and set of language is a key aspect to ensuring that our evaluations are consistent (that…and cross-checks).

Additionally, for each position in the book, there are positional grading scales. As opposed to grading traits, these scales apply to stacking the final grades for each prospect. The final offensive guard scale is as follows:

Grade	Description
9.0-7.0	High-end starter. Pro Bowl level.
6.9-6.7	Strong starter with 2 position flexibility.
6.6-6.5	Lower end starter. Backup flexibility at OG or OC.
6.4	Starter with no position flexibility.
6.2	Multi-positional backup.
6.1-6.0	Developmental. Top traits but needs time.
5.9	Backup with no position flexibility. #4 OG or #3 OC.

Ben Bredeson: OG Rank 1 of 19 | Final Grade: 6.7

Report by Jeremy Fischer & John Todd

One Liner

Bredeson is a durable, hard-working guard whose technique and toughness will make him a solid starting guard for an organization.

Overall

Bredeson is an offensive lineman in Michigan’s balanced blocking scheme. He has played his entire career at left guard and started 46 of his 51 career games played. He has a great frame for an interior lineman, barrel-chested with sufficient length. He has decent foot speed but is a stiff athlete. He has a great deal of starting experience for a storied program and has proven to be very tough, durable, and a hard worker.

Pass Game

In pass protection, Bredeson is the ready-caller to his center on every play and communicates well across the line. He pass sets and attacks with great footwork and blocking form, sitting and bending his knees comfortably. He has quick hands to make first contact, but lacks punch power to jolt and will occasionally catch rushers. He usually blocks with good accuracy and readjusts well up top. Bredeson plays with great awareness to pass off and receive stunts while also looking for work well when uncovered. He reacts quickly to twists up front and always plays with a sound base, but his rigidity in his hips limits him at times. His blocking form keeps him in good position at contact, but his anchor ability is inconsistent. He is capable of sitting and planting his feet, but when faced with stronger interior rushers or powerful blitzers he has shown some weaknesses.

Run Game

In the run game, Bredeson utilizes his strong upper body to stalemate defenders with ease. In gap schemes he has the ability to work within a double team to move off the ball, down block and finish with force, or pull on traps and powers. However, he doesn’t play with great power to move linemen one on one and he doesn’t finish head-up. He has strong hands to sustain and lock up defenders. In zone schemes he flows decently well and moves up to the second level to attack and finish linebackers and box safeties. His lack of hip flexibility restricts his ability to flip his hips and seal. As a taller guard, Bredeson doesn’t play with consistent pad level, yet he keeps his feet moving and plays with strong footwork. He also has some surprising range to the outside and makes up for his sufficient foot speed with finishing tenacity in space.

Last Word

Bredeson projects to be a starting-level guard in the NFL. He did take some snaps at center at the Senior Bowl, and even has some flexibility outside to tackle if necessary, but there’s no reason to move him from where he’s most comfortable. He has a very solid frame along the interior and is scheme-diverse. His combination of toughness and technique are desired traits.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Blocking form	Hip flexibility
Sustain and toughness	Anchor consistency
Awareness	Initial punch power

Critical Factors

Category	Grade
Reactive Athleticism	6
Anchor/Play Strength	6
Body Control	6

Positional Factors

Category	Grade
Run Block	6
Pass Block	6
Awareness	7
Footwork	7
2nd Level	6
Range	6
Hand Use	6
Power	5
Sustain	7
Finish	5
Flexibility	5
Toughness	7

Basic

			Penalties		Blown Block Splits
Year	G	GS	Holding	False Start	Run	Pressure	Sack	Total
2016	13	8	0	0	7	1	1	10
2017	12	12	1	1	13	7	1	21
2018	13	13	0	0	7	2	2	11
2019	13	13	0	4	6	7	1	14
	51	46	1	5	33	17	5	56

Team Stats

	Zone Run Blocking			Gap Run Blocking			Pass Block
Year	% of Runs	Y/A	Pos%	% of Runs	Y/A	Pos%	Pressure%
2016	63%	5.5	50%	31%	5.2	40%	32%
2017	47%	4.3	39%	41%	6.4	41%	42%
2018	54%	5.3	52%	36%	5.7	44%	33%
2019	60%	4.5	47%	29%	5.1	50%	33%
	56%	5	47%	34%	5.7	43%	35%