In the latest update of the “Breaking Down” series it’s time for the Bengals 4th round pick and former Georgia Bulldog, Offensive lineman Clint Boling. Boling is coming out in the draft as a SR, with 49 career starts, starting the last 38 games of his career consecutively. By looking at the overall draft process Boling is listed as one of the “steals of the draft”. Many “draft guru’s” and sports networks listed Boling as a day 2 prospect (In fact Scouts Inc. ranked him 50th on their big board).
Official Combine Stats:
Height: 6’5″ Weight: 308 40 Yrd Dash: 5.28 20 Yrd Dash: 2.87 10 Yrd Dash: 1.78 Bench Press: 28 Vertical Jump: 31 Broad Jump: 8’6″ 20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.63 3-Cone Drill: 7.66
This time around I figured I would defer the first judgement to: Clint Boling himself. Here’s what Clint said about his own game to Cincinnati Enquirer’s Joe Reedy.
"“I moved around a lot. I played left tackle, right tackle, right guard. As long as I can get on the field I just want the opportunity to play,” Boling said. “I think some of my strengths are versatility. I’m a smart football player. I need to work on becoming a little more explosive.”"
As some may point out players self evaluations may be a tad bias. But in this case I felt Boling knows his own strengths and even his weaknesses.
Watching film on Boling it’s clear why many had him as a day 2 player. Boling has started this past year, but still made 2nd team All-SEC. Boling has great quickness and agility to make blocks on the outside but has stellar agility for an interior blocker. Plays with a much needed mean streak, and consistently blocks through the whistle. When watching his technique he nearly always places his helmet in the proper place to drive his defender out of the play. Very quick when firing off the ball generating great leverage on run blocking. When coming out of stance is quick with the hands keeping them ready, and delivers a jarring blow when making contact. Has the ability to block Linebackers as well is quick enough to handle them, as well as smart enough to take proper angles when going after his backer. His interior pass pro is quite impressive and his run blocking is as well. He is coming into a situation where Boling could very well be the best interior offensive lineman on the team.
Well I found it, I actually found an offensive lineman highlight tape. It’s not that long but it’s definitely a needed check out to see a quick look of what you all need to expect protecting our new QB in the future.
During his time in stripes Clint will be wearing the strong number of 65. This 65 is an interesting choice as it’s belonged to some of the best Guards in this franchises’ history including Max Montoya (79-89) and Eric Steinbach (03-06). I’m not saying he’ll be as good as those 2, but considering the good omen that comes with wearing that number I would begin to think that there’s some hope in this scenario.
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