Colby
Sorsdal.
Colby
Sorsdal.
William & Mary
"Sorsdal is a five-year FCS right tackle whose NFL value always lived inside, a heavy-handed run blocker asked to rebuild his pass sets and his position at the same time."Pre-draft read
Sorsdal was William & Mary's right tackle for five years, a tall, heavy-handed blocker who lived in the run game. He played with a wide base and real grip strength, latching onto a defensive end's chest and finishing through the whistle, and he was at his best on gap and duo concepts where he could down-block and climb.
The secondary trait was pulling: for a 300-pounder he moved well in space and hit moving targets at the second level. Pass protection was the softer half of the profile — the initial kick-slide was heavy and speed off the edge made him lunge — but the anchor held once he got hands inside. The signature was durability and finish: 46 career starts, fourth-most in program history, all at right tackle.
Gap and duo run scheme that asks its interior linemen to down-block, displace at the point and pull into the second level rather than reach defenders on the move.
Year 1: developmental right guard and emergency swing tackle who dresses for special teams. Ceiling: multi-year starting right guard in a downhill run offense.
A pure wide-zone offense that asks him to reach-block three-techniques and cut off backside pursuit with a first step he does not have.
Everything about the projection assumes the move inside; left outside, the edge speed he never faced in the CAA finds him.
Colby Sorsdal highlights | 2023 NFL Draft
Team-produced draft reel of his William & Mary right tackle tape: down blocks, pulls and finish in the run game.
Unpacking Colby Sorsdal's Game: Big Potential with Room to Grow
Film breakdown of the hand strength and run-blocking base against the pass-set and foot-speed limitations.
The Detroit Lions select OL Colby Sorsdal 152nd overall from William & Mary
Draft-night selection with context on the small-school trench profile Detroit targeted on Day 3.
A five-year starter at right tackle for an FCS program, Sorsdal profiles as a power-scheme offensive lineman whose evaluation is really a projection: the frame, hand strength and start count are pro-caliber, but the position he plays in the NFL was never going to be the one he played in Williamsburg. He is a mauler in the run game and a work in progress in pass protection.
The senior tape justified the buzz. He started all 13 games in 2022 for a Tribe offense that finished third nationally in rushing at 265.8 yards per game and fourth in fewest sacks allowed per game, and he was a consensus FCS All-American, first team by the AP, AFCA and Walter Camp. The flags were competition level and foot speed. He dominated CAA edge rushers he outweighed and outmuscled, and the East-West Shrine Bowl was the first look at him against upgraded talent, where the staff moved him around to guard and center rather than leave him outside.
The board treated him as a Day 3 developmental interior convert. Nobody who watched him thought right tackle survived the jump, and the honest projection was guard with swing-tackle emergency value. Detroit taking him at 152 fit a front office that had spent the draft buying small-school trench players and trusting its own development.
- 01
Grip and finish
He latches with strong, accurate hands and plays through the whistle, routinely burying defenders once he gets his fists inside the frame.
- 02
Run-game identity
He is a genuine down-blocker in gap and duo concepts, creating displacement at the point and clearing lanes for a top-five FCS rushing offense.
- 03
Pull and climb
For a 300-pounder he moves well when asked to pull or work to the second level, and he finds and fits moving linebackers on the move.
- 04
Five-year availability
46 career starts, fourth-most in William & Mary history, every one of them at right tackle across five seasons without a lost year to injury.
- 05
Positional flex
The Shrine Bowl staff reps at guard and center showed the tools to slide inside, which is exactly the projection NFL teams were buying.
- 01
Heavy kick-slide
The first two steps in pass protection are slow and upright, which lets edge speed threaten the corner before he can gain depth.
- 02
Waist bender
He lunges when beaten early, dropping his head and losing leverage instead of resetting his feet and staying square.
- 03
Competition level
His run-game dominance came against CAA defensive linemen he consistently outweighed, and the tape lacks reps against pro-caliber rushers.
- 04
Position change built in
He never took a college snap inside, so his NFL role required learning guard from scratch as a rookie.
| Yr | Team | G |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | William & Mary | 10 |
| 2019 | William & Mary | 10 |
| 2021 | William & Mary | 3 |
| 2021 | William & Mary | 10 |
| 2022 | William & Mary | 13 |
| Career | — | 46 |
Offensive linemen do not accumulate box-score statistics, so this table tracks games and starts only. Figures come from the official William & Mary Athletics player bio: 10 starts in 2018, 10 in 2019, three in the COVID-delayed spring 2021 season, 10 in fall 2021 and 13 in 2022. The season sums reconcile with the bio's career line of 46 starts, fourth-most in program history, all at right tackle. William & Mary is an FCS program and is not covered by cfbstats.com; no snap counts or blocking grades are published by an official source, so none are listed.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Heavy-bodied lineman who profiles best inside but holds emergency tackle value, giving a line real roster flexibility.
Grip-strength guard who wins with hand placement and finish rather than movement skills, and who anchors instead of mirroring.
Developmental swing lineman who dresses as depth, makes spot starts in emergencies and never locks down a full-time job.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Detroit moved him inside immediately, and he spent rookie minicamp learning right guard after five years at right tackle. That flexibility got him on the field fast: he appeared in 16 games as a rookie in 2023 with three starts, opening his first career game at right guard against the Raiders, and logged 253 offensive snaps plus 74 on special teams for a team that reached the NFC Championship Game. Year two went the other way. With the Lions' line healthy and Detroit adding depth, he played one game in 2024 with five special teams snaps and no offensive work. In 2025 he was placed on injured reserve with a left leg injury in August, lost the season, and was activated off IR in January 2026 before returning to the roster on a renegotiated deal.
The evaluation at 152 was fair and the outcome is still open, which is unusual three years out. Everything the reports flagged happened: the tackle-to-guard move was mandatory, the pass sets needed rebuilding, and the small-school run-game dominance did not automatically translate. What the pick bought Detroit was a cheap swing body who could start three games as a rookie in an emergency, and that is roughly market value for a fifth-rounder. The lost 2025 season is the real cost — a developmental lineman cannot afford to give a year back, and he is now competing for a roster spot instead of a job.