Drew Azzopardi

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They're Great

This one was easy. If you don't care about the details, you can stop reading this thread after the next sentence. Drew Azzopardi is Rob Havenstein. PFF likes Azzopardi and ranks him as a 3rd round prospect, which is about where Hav was projected to go. The Rams drafted Hav late in the 2nd round and in my mocks that year I took him for the Rams a round later in the 3rd. Other experts seem to hate Azzopardi. Some have him as an UDFA. I completely understand this. After all, on paper, Hav didn't look like a good draft prospect.

Hav's Combine testing numbers are ridiculously bad. I bet Rich Eisen could have beaten him in most of the drills. Per Mockdraftable, Hav's 40-yard dash time was so slow (5.46 seconds) that it is only 13th percentile for OTs. His 10-yard split was 16th percentile. His broad jump 14th percentile. His short shuttle 24th percentile. His 8.28 second 3 cone (Is that number right? How can you run the drill that slow? Did he stop at the last cone to eat a sandwich?) is 6th percentile. His 16 bench reps (and no, he doesn't have super long arms) was 3rd percentile. If we compared his bench to all OL, he was 2nd percentile. Hav's athletic spider web apart from his height and weight isn't a web; it is a cornflake. Or as Lance Zierlein put it in his draft profile for Hav: "Doesn't look the part... looks oafish."

Hav's career wasn't entirely smooth. You might remember there was one season he played hurt and was terrible. Injuries robbed him of the very end of his career as well. In between, Hav sometimes had trouble handling speed rushers. For most of his career, however, he was a rock on our OL, very reliable and consistent. He as a critical reason the Rams were able to run the football effectively, a very crafty and intelligent player with underrated footwork. When we used midzone runs, Hav was outstanding at torquing defenders out of the gap to widen the hole. He was also a great combo blocker. At the peak of his career, he was one of the best RTs in the NFL. I think there was one year that he had a strong claim for the top spot. Good job, big oaf.

Hav's draft class had a ton of 1st round busts. So, in a redraft Havenstein would be a high 1st round pick. Minimum he's top half, maybe top 10 overall. If we could only have one of them, which player would be more valuable, Todd Gurley or Havenstein? Gurley was more valuable at his peak, but due to his injury situation, his Rams career was only about half as long as Hav's career. Is it better to have a great RB for a relatively short period or a good OT for a much longer period? I think it is an interesting question to debate. Which would you choose? Ultimately, we needed both. Gurley was ineffective when the OL was bad. On the other hand, what's the point of a great OL if you don't have a good RB?

Since the bar is set so high, it is very unlikely that Azzopardi will match Hav's career achievements. Still, if his naysayers are right and he ends up only being a late round to UDFA prospect, you don't even have to ask whether I'd be interested in this player. I think he has a chance at being a starting RT in the NFL. Warren McClendon is on an expiring rookie contract. Keagan Trost is a rookie, so by definition unproven. If Alaric Jackson doesn't show he can be trusted, Trost might need to play LT. So, it doesn't take much imagination to see the Rams having an urgent need at RT entering 2027. Jackson himself is a former UDFA. Could the Rams steal another starting OT without investing much or any draft capital?

 

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Part 1: Background

Name, Age: Drew Azzopardi. Turns 23 in August of 2027. 5th year redshirt senior. Washington 2024 to 2026, San Diego State 2022 to 2023. Communication major. Academic all-conference in 2025.

Size, estimated speed: Listed 6'7'' tall and 325 pounds for 2026. Was listed at 315 pounds in 2025 and 2024. Draftbuzz 5.08 seconds in 40. Draftscout 6'5 3/4'' tall, 322 pounds, 5.17 seconds in 40. ESPN recruiting profile had him at 6'5'' tall and 315 pounds and was listed the same in 2022 by SDSU, then 6'7'' tall and 315 pounds in 2023.

3-star recruit from San Mateo, CA. His older brother was an IOL for Idaho and was a tryout player in 2026 with the New England Patriots.

Played in 3 games and redshirted in 2022. Played 12 games with 6 starts in 2023. His HC at SDSU was Brady Hoke, the former Michigan HC. Hoke retired at the end of the 2023 season.

Had a 68.2 PFF grade in 2023, ranking as the 9th highest graded OT transfer for 2024. The 10th best transfer, Kadyn Proctor, was the 12th overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft.

Started 13 games in 2024. Had 11 starts in 2025. Got rolled up on in the 9th game of the season, suffering an ankle injury and missed the 10th and 11th games of the season due to injury.

PFN impact score of 78.4 in 2025 (255th ranked OL in nation). [Spencer Fano, the top scoring RT in the nation, had a 94.0 grade. PJ Williams, a well-regarded 2027 RT prospect, scored 86.7] On 644 snaps, surrendered 14 pressures and 1 sack, 6.3% pressure rate, 65 run block grade [Keagan Trost led the country last year in PFN run block grade at 90, best out of any OL. Trost overall 2025 PFN impact score of 99.9 was so incredibly high that it topped any OL in either 2024 or 2025, only allowing 7 pressures and 1 sack with a miniscule 1.7% pressure rate. Phenomenal metrics for both pass and run blocking. Since PFN has only tracked OL for 2 seasons, Trost owns the best impact score of all time. Maybe Trost should have been a 1st round pick.]

In 2024, had a PFN impact score of 70.2. On 834 snaps, gave up 29 pressures, 7 sacks, 7.2% pressure rate, 52 run block grade.

Mild-mannered, personable, good natured, sense of humor, professional in interviews. He says he lost body fat and worked on his flexibility to prepare for the 2025 season.

PFF board 85 [3rd round], 10th best OT.
Sam Teets preliminary board 4th round tier, 106. In the summer of 2024 (for the 2025 draft), Teets wrote a profile about Azzopardi, giving him a late 4th to 5th round grade. (+) Massive hands, broad shoulders, rectangular upper body, very quick footwork, long horizontal strides, rarely beaten around outside shoulder, wide base, surprisingly resilient anchor, defenders struggle to play through frame, tight hand placements, strong extensions, clamps and stays attached, grip strength, identifies late blitzers, comfortable climbing to 2nd level. (-) 3 penalties in 6 starts n 2023. Initial kick step gains limited width and depth, limited knee bend, struggles to match athleticism, doesn't redirect to cover B-gap, not a mauler in run game, limited displacement.
By September of 2024, Teets had soured on Azzopardi and ranked him outside the top 200 for the 2025 draft. As you can see from his 2027 board, Azzopardi has rebounded and climbed back into the range Teets had him graded 2 years ago.
Drafttek 137 [Late 4th to 5th round]
Drafttek mock 4th round, 121. [Blake Frazier, PJ Williams and Niki Prongos are OTs all taken in the 4th round of this mock. Players at other positions in the same round include Drew Mestemaker, Duce Robinson, TJ Moore, Cooper Barkate, Isaiah Sategna, Ian Strong, Adam Trick and LJ Martin.]
SticktotheModel 142 [5th round], 4th round projection. (+) Reinvented himself after rough 2024, moves well for size, one of the highest graded OTs in the country in 2025, zero pressures allowed vs Ohio State, range to drive rushes around pocket and recover burst to counter B-gap attacks, some of best pulling and 2nd level mobility in draft class, lateral quickness, real improvement in 2025. (-) Gave up 31 pressures and 7 sacks in 2024, only 9.1% positively graded run plays vs 17.9% negatively graded run plays. Pad level rises quickly out of stance, exposes his chest, wide hand placements, poor outside zone blocking.
Draftbuzz 5th round projection, 163. (+) Moves well for size, experienced, handles speed off edge, cut sacks and pressures dramatically after rough 2024 season. (-) Had some bad games, weak run blocking, poor zone run blocker, plays high and loses leverage, missed 2 games due to injury and wasn't as good after his injury, different player week-to-week, good in September but bad in November.
PFN board 164 [5th round]
PFN industry consensus 169 [5th round]
FirstandTen 3rd round projection, but ranked 179 [Late 5th to 6th round]
Shane Hallam mock 7th round, 222.
NFLMDD sim 241 [Late 7th round]
Draftscout UDFA

 

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Part 2: Strengths

Azzopardi might be the easiest player to project to the NFL out of all the players I've studied so far. Some players are in gimmicky college schemes. Others play at a low level of competition. Neither of those issues cloud Azzopardi's draft tape. In 2025, Azzopardi blocked opponents who were or are projected to be early round draft picks and for the most part he held up well against them. He also played in a scheme that is almost identical to the Rams offensive scheme.

Jedd Fisch, UW's HC, was on the coaching staff for the Rams from 2018 to 2019. His offense uses formations and play concepts lifted from McVay's system. In a way, UW's scheme illustrates how our OL probably are overrated as individual players. The scheme is very OL friendly. You don't need to be a fantastic pass blocker to hold up. It isn't an old school, Air Coryell offense where the OL constantly has to take vertical pass sets and pass block for extended lengths to give the QB time to bomb away deep. In McVay's offense, we don't need a QB with a huge arm like Stafford and we don't need a bunch of 1st round OL who are phenomenal pass blockers. Obviously, go ahead and take stars like that if you can find them (maybe Trost will become one of them) but the system can still work without those elements.

Consequently, we don't need to wildly speculate as to whether Azzopardi could play in a pro-style offense. His 2025 tape directly translates to playing RT for the Rams. True, some of their run concepts were different from how we run the ball and their QB (Demond Williams Jr.) is a very athletic QB who doesn't have an elite arm, so is night and day different from Stafford, but the backbone of the scheme is the same. This is a key reason why Azzopardi is an interesting prospect to monitor for the Rams and why he'd be a candidate to compete for substantial playing time Day 1 as a rookie. He might be able to start immediately, because he has a substantial head start on learning the playbook.

Run blocking in a rep against Arvell Reese, the 5th overall selection in the 2026 draft. Azzopardi engages with power and a wide base, controls, seals and turns Reese, controlling him so that Reese can't disengage until the RB is already past the POA. Have some, A'Mauri Washington, what you've got? You've got nothing. What about you, Kenyatta Jackson? Nothing, too? Teitum Tuioti, you're boring me, not worth my time. We don't need to wait for the Senior Bowl. Azzopardi has already shown what he can do against talented defenders on the same type of plays you'd call in an actual NFL game. His single best trait is his size, which translates to the NFL level.

Heavy anchor like a battleship. Devours speed-to-power moves and asks for a second helping. Zero movement on many bull rushes, like he's just laughing at his opponent, doesn't give up an inch. A human wall. Very strong base.

For some reason, a LB decided to try to charge directly into him. Bad idea, a kamikaze mission, like running headlong into a brick wall.

Massive frame. Proportional and thick build. Big hands, solid grip strength. Very wide frame, difficult for the defender to run around him. Length to stuff DL trying to attack B-gap on short yardage run.

Patient hands if the pass rusher flashes his hands. Patient hands in the middle of pass blocking reps. Isn't prone to wildly lunging early. Disciplined feet that maintain proper width. Can arch his back or run his legs to absorb bull rushes. When he meets the rusher at the apex square and balanced, he's very tough to beat, because he's just too big. Good contact balance in pass pro.

Abnormally quick out of his stance relative to his size. Good at 45-degree angle sets. Takes quick and small steps. Light enough on his feet to adjust to twists and to stay square to speed rushers heading outside. Surprisingly good against wide-aligned DE pass rushers trying to beat him around the corner. Combination of organized feet and length gives him the pass blocking range to escort speed rushers past the back of the pocket so that the QB can climb forward. If the QB forgets the name of the DE, just tell the QB to look back and read it off of the back of the DE's jersey when Azzopardi pushes him to the back of the pocket.

Very explosive 4-step bursts out of his stance to get out to wide-aligned DE to make seal blocks on running plays. He goes out to get them aggressively and shocking quickness. That type of short area movement off the snap you'd only expect from a smaller and more athletic OL. Most OTs his size are stiff and not as mobile.

Surprising range for his size. Gets out into space for screens and climbs easily to the 2nd level. Impressive movement skills going diagonally on wide screens. If the LB isn't moving, is coordinated in getting square to the block on combos. Isn't fast as a puller, but does a good job connecting with his target if it isn't a long pull. Good body control if he has to turn and adjust at the 2nd level to block a 2nd defender.

Calm and confident on the field. Even when he's getting beat and not having his best game, doesn't have an air of panic or stress like he's overwhelmed by the moment. Plays like a veteran.

On heads up run and pass blocks, does a nice job loading power and transferring energy into his opponent for strong initial blows. While he's not a powerful run blocker, he's very tough and physical on head-to-head run blocks and if he were a Ram, he'd do the horns justice by putting the "ram" into Ram. Not timid on the plays where it is time to buckle up your chin strap and come off the ball with authority.

Flashes decent torque in his hands for kick-out blocks. Heavy shove as help blocker knocked DE to the ground.

Doesn't quit. On some plays where he's badly beaten, and he should go find a rock to hide under in humiliation, he stays with it and sometimes finds a way to get a shove in to help out if the QB or RB scrambles around.

Has a positive and likeable personality. His OL coach likely will enjoy working with him, coachable with dependable football character.

 

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Part 3: Weaknesses

Quick pass rushers are his kryptonite. He can be made to look incompetent and foolish against twitchy pass rushers, like he's a walk-on freshman. Beaten by spin counter. COD fakes get him to stop his feet and smoke him for QB pressures and potential sacks. Chop-rip moves chop and rip him up, beating him around corner or to the inside. Vulnerable to quick rip moves on run blocks.

Not a twitchy or loose athlete. Average COD in tight quarters. When he's out in space on screen passes, poor lateral agility to mirror moving defenders, so he can whiff if they go around him, too straight-line in his movement.

He's quick out of his stance but he becomes a lumbering and slow player after that initial movement. At times, he's probably the slowest player on the field out of all 22, maybe even slower if you count the refs.

Doesn't have long arms, only average effective length relative to size. If the opponent has long arms, OT has insufficient length to get to their shoulder pads and chest. Hands can slip off the opponent. Not always able to control the DE on seal blocks.

Saw safety coming on green dog blitz but wasn't able to move his feet laterally quick enough to cut him off. Only effective pass blocking in relatively confined area; struggles if he has to defend more space. On combo block, if the LB run blitzes, OT can be late trying to protect interior gaps.

Inconsistent footwork on pass sets, not always clean and efficient. First step lacks depth. Sometimes takes false steps. Feet and hands can stop at the top of the rush. When he's late to the apex, he becomes a human turnstile the DE can go around on his way to the QB. Sometimes RT ends up with his back to the LOS, facing his own end zone. When he loses at the top of the rush, he opens his hips and chases DEs to the corner, so he's vulnerable to getting smoked by any type of counter back inside. Also has to chase the looper on some twists, so can be beaten by counters the same way. Overcommits when DE attacks his outside shoulder, opening the door for counters.

Has almost zero recovery athleticism. I don't think he saved a single block in the games I watched once he got in serious trouble. Once he goes into scramble mode he can become a spectator, insufficient foot quickness to move laterally to save it, his only weapon is his length to try to push the defender, so once they outside the radius of his hands or if they knock his arms down, he's done. A couple plays, mental errors by his teammates caused him to lose his block and he wasn't able to recover. Can't quickly shift his body weight to move laterally in a new direction, turning DEs loose to the QB.

Ducks his heads into some pass blocks, probably because he doesn't have elite arm length. Passive catches the DE on some pass reps instead of punching, weak hand placements. His poor technique can result in him bouncing off the DE at the top of the rush, losing grip and the DE being clean to the QB.

Very poor athleticism for outside zone runs. So terrible that NFL teams that have wide zone-based schemes might take him completely off their draft boards and have UDFA grades on him. He's a scheme limited lineman.

Pad level too high on down blocks, so he can be quickly shed by explosive DTs.

Doesn't reload hands quickly or have great contact balance on run blocks, so dynamic DL can shed him with 2nd effort or counters.

Not a drive blocker. No displacement on combo blocks and double teams. Average power, not nasty, not going to bully anyone. Only average power on club move, doesn't have very heavy hands. Limited impact on short yardage runs.

When his helmet gets too far over his toes, doesn't have the corrective foot and hand quickness to fix his base and regain balance, so the DE can rip him sideways or pull him down and get him to lean forward off balance, then disengage.

When he played Ohio State, didn't have any pass blocking reps against Arvell Reese.

Prone to penalties. Beaten by push pull move, resorts to holding DE, but not flagged. False start. When defenders pull away from him, susceptible to holding calls. Inability to mirror at 2nd level can result in him grabbing shifty LBs.

Opponents didn't want UW's QB to take off scrambling. So, sometimes it felt like they wanted to contain him in the pocket instead of going all out for sacks. Pass protection flaws covered up by his team's scheme. Almost never took a true vertical pass set.

Inconsistent performer, because against certain types of pass rushers he can look great but in other games and against other types of opponents he can look terrible.

A year older than an average prospect.

 

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Part 4: Draft Grade and Pro Comp

4th round grade. Rob Havenstein (Late 2nd round 2015, Rams, Wisconsin).

On paper, Azzopardi looks like a bad prospect. He can only play RT and has no position flexibility. He's a poor athlete. He's doesn't move opponents around as a run blocker. He isn't good for outside zone blocking teams. Quick DEs can make him look like a terrible pass blocker. I understand how some experts will view him as being the same as AJ Arcuri, who the Rams drafted with the next to last pick of the 2022 draft, one slot before Brock Purdy. [Imagine how history might be different if the Rams had drafted Purdy with that pick. Would Ty Simpson be on our team right now? Would Stafford even be our starter? Always scout QBs in the draft, regardless of perceived team need. You should never ignore a QB prospect you think is a potential starter.]

I like this player. I don't see him as a PS guy or back end of the roster type. I think he could compete for a starting spot with the Rams. Not all of the outside packaging looks attractive, but at the end of the day he's just a really big guy. He's also quick after the snap, so while his Combine testing might not end up being good, his functional football movement is better than whatever his numbers say.

If Azzopardi struggles in 2026, his draft stock could end up being really low next year. Don't be fooled. I think Drew Azzopardi has more NFL potential that most people think. I rarely side with PFF on draft prospects but this time I think they have it right.

 

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Let's draft Azzopardi in the FirstandTen simulator.

2nd round, 63. Zach Lutmer, CB.
4th round, 127. Drake Lindsey, QB.
5th round, 159. Drew Azzopardi, OT.
6th round, 191. Earl Little, JR., S.
7th round, 223. Jonathan Maldonado, EDGE.