Jedrick
Wills.
Jedrick
Wills.
Alabama· 6'4"· 312 lb· 5.05s 40
"The most technically polished tackle in the class and the one asked to change hands: Jedrick Wills protected a left-handed quarterback's blind side from the right side, and every team drafting him planned to flip him."Pre-draft read
Wills is a compact, powerful right tackle who wins with hand placement, balance and finish. He fires off low in the run game, generates movement on down blocks and combos, and he is nasty through the whistle — Alabama's best short-yardage runs went behind him. The pop on contact is the trait that shows up on the first snap of any cut-up.
In protection he is quiet. He sets with square shoulders, absorbs bull rushes without giving ground and recovers when beaten initially because his feet never stop. He allowed one sack in 771 snaps as a junior and missed seven assignments all season. The reach against wide speed is average rather than elite, and he can be tested by long-armed rushers who attack the edge of his frame.
Wide-zone and gap-scheme run offense that asks tackles to reach, climb and finish rather than pass-set 45 times a game
Year 1 starting tackle on either side with a position coach rebuilding the left-side footwork; ceiling is a long-term Pro Bowl blindside protector
A pure dropback passing offense that leaves him isolated against elite speed rushers on an island every snap
Teams keeping him at right tackle get the higher floor; the left-tackle projection is the part that carries risk
Jedrick Wills Jr. 2019 Highlight
Junior season at right tackle against SEC fronts.
Jedrick Wills (Alabama) All 22 Film || 2020 NFL Draft
All-22 study of the pass sets and hand usage.
2020 NFL Draft Highlights: OT Jedrick Wills (Alabama)
Pre-draft cut-up focused on run-game finish.
Wills is the most pro-ready blocker in the 2020 tackle group, a two-year Alabama starter who anchored the right side of a line that faced the best defensive fronts in the country every week. The football identity is technique and power: consistent hands, a strong base, and a finishing mentality in the run game that offensive line coaches grade at the top of the class.
The resume is short but spotless. He played 11 games as a true freshman with one start, then started all 15 games at right tackle as a sophomore and all 13 as a junior, 29 career starts including 28 straight to close his career. Alabama graded him above 91 percent as a junior and credited him with one sack and 3.5 hurries allowed in 771 snaps, a 99.0 percent assignment success rate, He was first-team All-SEC and a consensus second-team All-American.
The projection question is the side. Every one of his college starts came at right tackle, protecting the blind side of left-handed Tua Tagovailoa, and most teams picking at the top need a left tackle. The stance, the footwork and the hand sequence all have to mirror. Evaluators who trusted his athleticism thought the switch was a formality; those who did not wanted him at right tackle or guard. Cleveland took him tenth and put him at left tackle immediately.
- 01
Hand technique
Lands accurate, well-timed punches inside the frame and resets hands quickly when a rusher works the edges of his chest.
- 02
Run-game power
Drives defenders off the ball on down blocks and combos, and Alabama's short-yardage plan leaned on his side of the line.
- 03
Pass-protection production
Allowed one sack and 3.5 hurries in 771 junior snaps with a 99.0 percent assignment success rate.
- 04
Balance and recovery
Keeps his feet churning through contact and reattaches after losing the initial move rather than conceding the rep.
- 05
Elite competition prepared
Twenty-nine starts against SEC edge rushers with only seven missed assignments in his final season.
- 01
Side switch required
All 29 college starts came at right tackle, so his footwork and stance must be rebuilt for the left side.
- 02
Average arm reach
Long-armed rushers get into his chest before he can strike, and he lacks the length to reset the block from distance.
- 03
Wide speed rushes
Can be stressed by pure edge speed when he oversets inside, giving up the corner on true dropback reps.
- 04
Short starting resume
Two seasons as a starter, and the freshman film is too limited to check for consistency over time.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 5.05sp50
- Vertical
- 34.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 113inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- 4.84sp50
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Alabama | 11 |
| 2018 | Alabama | 15 |
| 2019 | Alabama | 13 |
| Career | — | 39 |
Games and starts from Alabama's official bio, which credits 29 career starts including 28 consecutive to close his career; season sums match.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Solid decade-long starting tackle who is reliable rather than dominant and plays through injury stretches.
Technician tackle who dominates in the run game and becomes a top-five player at the position quickly.
First-round tackle who starts for years without ever justifying the pick and moves on in free agency.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Wills started 15 games at left tackle as a rookie and made the PFWA All-Rookie Team, then started 13 in 2021 and all 17 in 2022. The knee ended everything. A serious right knee injury in Week 9 of 2023 required season-ending surgery after eight starts, the injury lingered into 2024, and he played five games with four starts before shutting it down. He was a free agent through all of 2025, choosing to rehabilitate rather than sign, finished with 58 games and 57 starts in five Cleveland seasons, signed with Chicago for 2026 and was released on August 30 after struggling in camp, then joined Buffalo's practice squad the following day.
The pick did not work, and the reasons were only half-predicted. The side switch happened without disaster — he was a functional NFL left tackle for three seasons — but he never played to top-ten value, and then his availability collapsed. Cleveland declined the fifth-year option and moved on. The tape said technique, power and a short resume; the career says a solid starter whose knee arrived before the leap did. Tristan Wirfs went three picks later and became an All-Pro, which is the comparison this pick will always carry.
Data note: Imported from Wikipedia 2020 NFL draft player selections table.