Javion Cohen reportedly viewed as Alabama's top OL by NFL scouts
Alabama has seen at least one of its offensive lineman taken in 10-straight NFL drafts. More than likely, that impressive streak will push to 11-straight come next April. The Crimson Tide are also on a four-year run where an offensive linemen gets selected in the first round. That streak might prove to be the more difficult to keep alive.
Some early NFL mock drafts believe fifth-year senior Emil Ekiyor Jr. is Alabama’s best shot to keep that run going. According to On3’s Matt Zenitz, a lot of NFL scouts disagree. They believe rising junior Javion Cohen is the Crimson Tide’s top draft-eligible prospect along its offensive line.
Here’s what Zenitz had to say about Cohen in a recent piece where he dove into six lesser-hyped SEC players with strong NFL draft grades:
“Multiple early 2023 mock drafts have Alabama G Emil Ekiyor going in the first round,” Zenitz wrote. “In reality, NFL scouts have Ekiyor as more of a later-round or undrafted free agent prospect and view Javion Cohen as the top draft prospect among Crimson Tide offensive linemen.
“Cohen, listed by Alabama at 6 feet 4 and 305 pounds, started all 14 games for the Tide as a sophomore last season and teamed with New York Giants first-round pick Evan Neal to form an elite left side of the line for Alabama.”
To some, that may come as a surprise. To others, it won’t. Cohen possesses tremendous upside, after all.
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He’s an athletic guy who’s technically sound and has the ability to play at least four of the five positions along the offensive line. Now to be fair, Cohen’s lack of elite length will probably keep him at guard on the next level, but he’s more than capable of playing that position at a high level in a variety of blocking schemes.
Pro Football Focus recently pointed out on Twitter that Cohen went over 625 pass-blocking snaps last season without giving up a sack. Given Alabama’s difficult schedule, including playing Georgia twice, that’s an impressive statistic.
While I believe Ekiyor can be more of a mid-round guy rather than a late-rounder/undrafted free agent, I also won’t disagree that that Cohen is the better overall prospect. Regardless, they’re both being viewed as key pieces to Alabama’s upcoming national title run.
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