NFL Draft: Pro comparisons for the top 32 prospects in 2021
By Adam Patrick
NFL Draft 2021 Pro Comparisons: Rashawn Slater → Joe Staley
For the NFL teams that are unable to grab one of the top offensive line prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft, Rashawn Slater is a nice consolation prize.
Measuring in at 6-foot-4 and 315 pounds, Slater has the size to line up on either the inside or the outside of the offensive line. In fact, he spent his high school football career as a guard, and then once he started his time at Northwestern, he moved outside to tackle.
Slater’s versatility should allow him to potentially be an immediate starter for whatever team drafts him, depending on how quickly he is able to pick up the offensive blocking schemes.
He did decide to opt-out of the 2020 season, so he hasn’t played in a game since 2019. This is something that could cause him to fall a bit in the draft, but we’ll just have to wait and see if that ends up being the case.
Why he compares to Joe Staley:
During his tenure at Northwestern, Slater spent time starting at both right tackle and left tackle. Before he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 2007, Joe Staley also started at both right tackle and left tackle during his college career at Central Michigan.
Staley even began his pro career starting at right tackle before the 49ers shifted him over the other side of the line to left tackle, and that is where he remained for the majority of his tenure in the NFL.