Measurables
UNIVERSITY- IOWA AGE- 23 CLASS- JR
HEIGHT- 6’3″ WEIGHT- 290 ARM LENGTH-
40 Time- 3 CONE- VERTICAL- BROAD JUMP- BENCH PRESS-
Overview
Tyler is from Solon, Iowa, born April 7th, 2000. He was somewhat of a multi-sport athlete in high school, where he played both sides of the ball in football, shot-put, baseball and starred as a wrestler. In 2018 he was redshirted as a freshman, he saw the field in only two games on the defensive side of the ball. It wasn’t until 2019, when he was moved to offensive line that Linderbaum really made a name for himself at the collegiate level. Tyler started all 13 games, earning honorable mentions for All-Big Ten. In a condensed 2020 season, because of the pandemic, he started all 8 games. Earning First Team All-Big Ten honors, First and Second Team All America Honors, and finishing as a top 3 finalist for the Remington Trophy (given to the nation’s top center). In 2021 Tyler started all 14 games, earning the Remington Trophy, consensus All-American and First Team All-Big Ten.
Strengths
The first thing that jumps out when you watch game tape of Tyler is fantastic athletic ability. You might be wondering, ” Wait, athletic ability is the first thing you notice at center?”. Yeah, the guy is running around trying to block everybody. Quick feet in pass protection as well. If you want to run an outside run play the DT is getting reached by Tyler 99 times out of 100 and there’s a good chance he’s breaking off and reaching the linebacker as well. If you want to run a screen with him, brace yourselves DBs. Tyler plays with excellent technique, from the footwork, hand placement, leverage. It’s all at an elite level already. Tyler does a very nice job with body positioning to wall off defenders from being able to make an impact on the play. He’s really able to flip those hips and box guys out. You can tell he pays very close attention to detail in practice because he has very good timing to break off blocks and attack the second level in the run game. You see a lot of instances where he’s the guy calling out potential blitzers that may be coming from the second level of a defense. Some of the best balance I’ve seen for his position. Holds his ground well in the pass game. If he gets knocked back he still holds a strong anchor and is never knocked completely out of the play. Recovers well when he is given strong resistance from a DT. He’s always able to find his balance, reset and ultimately regain control of the DT. I didn’t see any snapping issues in the games I watched. He’s familiar with a pro style offense as opposed to many of the spread offenses we see in college today. On top of that Iowa has churned out top offensive linemen after top offensive linemen so he has that as a plus for him as well. The consistency, (which I feel is sometimes an overlooked aspect of players tape) was phenomenal. Always plays with the same effort, perfect technique and attention to detail every snap.
Weaknesses/Room for Improvement
Truly not a man with a ton of weaknesses but there are some things that give me concern when I watch him. The biggest concern would be the lack of size and overall power in his game. He’s certainly a little light in the ass for what you want from a perfect OL in the NFL. It’s not very often where I truly see him blow a DT off the ball and drive him back into the second level or out of the hole. He more so uses his technique and body to wall off defenders. I question how he will fare against a strong explosive DT who may be able to beat him to punch off the ball. Not someone I would label as a finisher typically. He’s getting guys blocked no doubt but there’s not many plays where he’s putting guys on their backs. I didn’t see him go against many DTs with any kind of developed pass rush moves. The times I did see a DT use a strong arm or a rip move he did get taken off balance and that’s something I’ll be keeping an eye out for at the next level. With his lack of power my assumption would be NFL teams that prefer a more power run scheme would have him lower down the boards compared to a zone run scheme team. I wouldn’t necessarily run right up his rear. I’d like to see a little more awareness with picking up delayed/free rushers on the blitz. There were a few different times where guys came right passed him to eventually pressure or sack the QB. Would like to see his head on the swivel more for free rushers. With a single off-season in the NFL, the vast majority of these concerns should be resolved. This guy should become a great player if he isn’t one day 1. What’s the value of center in the NFL though?
Scheme Fit?
Zone Run Scheme
Round Grade
1st Round Elite Center Prospect