Could Adrian Ealy be Chicago Bears future RT?

Adrian Ealy was a four-star prospect for the Oklahoma Sooners. After two seasons on the bench, he started the past two seasons at right tackle for the Sooners. Ealy did not quite live up to his prospect status at Oklahoma, but he now enters the NFL draft with a lot of upside to mold into a player at the next level.

Adrian Ealy measurements and athleticism 

Height: 6’6″

Weight: 326

Arm: 32 5/8

Hand: 10

Broad: 8’8″

Vert: 24.5

40: 5.38

20ss: 4.87

3-cone: 8.82

Bench: 18

Strengths Adrian Ealy brings to NFL

Ealy has the adequate size that Is needed in the NFL. Beyond that, we are talking about a very powerful player. He packs a punch, and when he gets a clean hit on you, you are stopping in your stance or moving backward.

In the run game, he does a good job at pulling laterally and picking up edge defenders at the line of scrimmage. This is where his power can show as well

His combination of length, size, and power brings a nice ball of clay that can be molded into a starting right tackle.

Questions with Adrian Ealy transition to NFL

The words project, and ball of clay come to mind with Ealy. He is experienced at right tackle but was aided by Oklahoma, where quick passing, RPOs, and quick pulls were all that was needed.

In his pass sets, Adrian Ealy does not bend his waist, and speed pass rushers can typically bend the corner around him with ease. In his backpedal, he can lose balance as well, and his pass sets are sloppy and take away a lot of the power that he can generate. The issue is that this may be a bigger issue than the quick technique. You can see above that his agility drills are very slow, even for OL standards. These drills require dropping your weight and changing direction and he is much slower than your average lineman in this area.

Ealy has been used to pull when he has to get into the second level, he is hit or miss on identifying his target. He is much more comfortable pulling across the line than he is stepping out away from the line.

Adrian Ealy NFL Comparison

Adrian Ealy had his pro day, which gives a list of players who came Into the NFL at a similar height, weight, and athletic traits. The big thing that stands out is the low agility times. It limits his comparables but does not kill his chances.

Names that come up as similar comparables are Rob Havenstein, Joe Barksdale, and Chukwuma Okorafor. Okorafor may be the best NFL comparison for Adrian Ealy.

The Steelers drafted Okorafor in round three as a raw project from Western Michigan. He spent two seasons on the bench, and last season was called upon to start at right tackle. Now, he is expected to start there again.

It helps that Mike Munchak, a respected OL coach was there for the early stages, and Adrian Ealy would need to be in the right environment to turn into a starter as well. He also maybe two years away from starting, too, although the upside to step into that role is there.

Adrian Ealy fit with Chicago Bears

On one hand, they may need a starting right tackle sooner than Ealy will be ready. On the other, this is a roster with Germain Ifedi and Eliah Wilkinson at right tackle now. Neither is signed beyond this year. They need to leave this draft with more depth at tackle. The fact that RT is the only spot Ealy has played does not worry Chicago.

Still, he is raw, and they cannot look to him to start unless disaster strikes. Still, he comes in just as raw, with as much upside as Arlington Hambright and Lachavious Simmons, who were drafted by the Bears. At the right price, Adrian Ealy could get that call.