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Danny Isidora - RG of the Future?

By Warren Ludford

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NCAA Football: Miami at Appalachian State Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

The Vikings looked to add depth to their offensive line at guard by drafting Danny Isidora in the 5th round - 180th overall. In doing so, they look for an eventual replacement for Joe Berger, who may be in his last year at age 35.

PFF Scouting Report

Name: Danny Isidora

School: Miami

Position fit: Guard

Stats to know: Didn’t allow any pressures in 9 of his 13 starts for Miami this season.

What he does best:

  • His best work comes at the second level, particularly on the playside of zone runs.
  • Isidora earned a positive grade on 18 percent of plays where he was on the playside of an inside or outside zone run.
  • Well-tested in pass protection both in terms of scheme in Miami’s predominantly dropback passing game and the range of opponents he faced.
  • This included probably his best showing of the year against DeMarcus Walker and Florida State where he allowed zero pressures.
  • Florida State was one of a number of teams to test Isidora’s ability to anchor against bullrushes and he was rarely found wanting.
  • Shows good power on first contact on run plays as he engages with defenders allowing him to work for position through contact not just before he engages a block.

Biggest concern:

  • Struggled on the backside of zone plays in 2016; earned a negative grade on 15 percent of his blocks on the backside of inside and outside zone compared to 7 percent on the playside.
  • Limited exposure to gap scheme runs in 2016, zone runs constituted more than 65 percent of Miami’s run game. Struggled with on those rare opportunities as a pull blocker on power/counter runs.
  • Most of his struggles come at the line of scrimmage rather than at the second level; 78 percent of his negatively graded blocks came against defensive linemen compared to 54 percent of his positively graded blocks.
  • Isidora has a habit of making some easily blocks difficult by stepping too far and allowing the defender he is blocking to cross his face.

Bottom line: Over three seasons at Miami Isidora has proven his ability to be both a quality run-blocker and pass protector but hasn’t put his best performances in each facet together in one season. His best season as a run-blocker in 2014 saw him be more effective on the backside of zone plays than in recent seasons, though he maintained his quality on the playside of zone runs and especially at the second level. Combined with a strong 2016 season in pass protection after struggling in 2015, if Isidora can put everything together at once he has the potential to be a key contributor on an NFL offensive line.

Overall, Isidora seems a better fit for the new Vikings offense, with more use of zone-blocking, rather than the old one under Norv Turner which relied more on a power blocking scheme.

From his NFL Draft Profile, Isidora seems to check all the boxes in terms of desired traits at guard: 6’3”, 306lbs. is good size, 33” arms are good for an interior lineman, he benched 26 reps which was also good, and he is described as having a “thick bubble” to provide a good anchor, light feet and agility. Additionally, he has 3 full years playing RG at Miami, so his experience is good too.

The only negative on Isidora in his draft profile is that he is prone to a wide-stance, which can, and apparently did, hurt him against bull rushes at the Senior Bowl practices. Interestingly, however, in his PFF profile it states that he had plenty of exposure against bullrushes at Miami, and he was rarely found wanting. In any case, correcting a wide-stance is very coachable, and he seems to otherwise have the bulk and strength to handle bullrushes, so with a little fine-tuning, that technique issue should be corrected.

He was the 5th highest ranked guard of the PFF draft rankings this year, and had the 2nd best pass-blocking efficiency on 3rd downs of all the guards in the draft. Among the top guard prospects in the draft, Isidora looks pretty good for a 5th round pick across a range of key skills for guards measured by PFF in the chart below. Isidora is 2nd from the top.

Overall, Isidora has been good in both pass protection- especially last season at Miami, and usually good as a run-blocker, but could use to clean-up some issues with his back-side blocking, among other things. But there really doesn’t appear to be any terribly concerning problems with Isidora, just some technique issues to address and hopefully improve and/or eliminate with good coaching and development.

Given that Isidora isn’t being asked to start this year, having a year to work on his technique and any other issues could put him in good position to compete for the right-guard position after Joe Berger retires.

Isidora may face competition from TJ Clemmings, among others, for a guard position, as PFF reported that Clemmings has once again been taking reps at right guard and tackle. Clemmings was given some reps at guard in the past, but it didn’t work out well. Perhaps this time around it will be different, but who knows.

In any case, Isidora seems a solid right-guard prospect that may need only limited development time to be ready to compete for the starting job. Unfortunately developing offensive linemen has not been a strong-suit of the Vikings coaching staff in recent years- hence all the starters on the offensive line but probably Elflein are free-agent acquisitions rather than draft picks.

Nevertheless, developing a guy like Isidora seems eminently do-able, and with any luck he may prove to be a quality starter for the Vikings in the not too distant future.

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