[David Nasternak/MGoBlog]

The photo above may seem slightly larger than what we usually run at the top of a post. That happens when one attempts to keep all of their subject in the frame, and when said subject is a 6’5, 240 pound sophomore offensive tackle. The FBO crew travelled to Belleville High School last week to take in the Tigers’ game against Dearborn Fordson, and more specifically to take in four prospects. That set of four was headlined by left tackle Devontae Dobbs, who already holds a Michigan offer.

The complexion of the game changed rapidly, and as that happened so too did the complexion of our scouting. Patrick Lupro, a 2018 three-star CB, exited early due to injury. Kmare Carey, another CB, factored into none of the film we have because Fordson almost exclusively ran the ball, and when they did throw it wasn’t toward him. Julian Barnett, a 2019 WR to keep an eye on, had one nice catch over the middle on which he made two defenders miss before turning up the sideline and getting tackled. That left Dobbs as the prospect with the most film to sift through.

[After THE JUMP: video and scouting of Dobbs]

Video

Devontae Dobbs

Scouting

2019 OT #56 Devontae Dobbs (M offer)

Dobbs is as interesting a prospect as we’ll see for FBO this season; not only is he raw, he’s so young that I can’t confidently assert that there’s a position he fits best because he may still be growing. He’s not out of place at left tackle, but there was one tantalizing pull (00:45 in the video above); he could be a guard at the next level if he remains that quick after adding more weight.

The video above might seem to be more of a tarnish reel than a highlight reel, but the silver lining is that the core issues are technical issues, not physical deficiencies. Dobbs has the assets a D-I lineman needs: he’s quick, he’s athletic, he’s able to identify and target a linebacker in the second level, his hand placement is good, he has a good motor, and he’s strong enough to keep defenders at bay after he engages.

Glaring mistakes in the above video almost entirely fall under the umbrella of footwork issues. It looks as though Dobbs pushes off of his front foot, which slows him and doesn’t allow him to get depth as quickly as he could if he pushed off his back foot and dragged the front. It seems like his kick and power step are mixed up. This crops up at 1:23; he also stands up because of his weight being on the front foot while dropping his hands to maintain balance, and that causes him to almost get run around. At 2:36 the front foot issue causes him to lose a solid base, and when he needs to push inside he has to take two choppy little steps to get to where he can really push off, and by that time the defender has gotten inside. The back foot flies up again at 2:48, and trying to combo with his hips closed to the defender twists Dobb up and puts him on the ground. At 3:14 his footwork again betrays him and allows the defender to get inside. His “areas for improvement” list comes down to one thing, and it’s blinking in neon: footwork.

Still, I ended up with more positive notes than negative jotted in my notebook. The video starts with two quick second-level blocks, the first on the first play and the second at 00:12. That quickness is seen again when he pulls at 00:45; the run may have gone nowhere, but that wasn’t on Dobbs.

Pass protection is difficult for linemen to master and easy to mess up. It’s certainly worth noting that Belleville is a very pass-heavy offense; I’d put them around 80%/20% pass/run. This may have been in response to the way the game went; a 21-19 game at halftime quickly turned into a 34-19 Belleville deficit. Run blocking is a little more straightforward, and when Dobbs was asked to block straight ahead (for example, at 1:00) he got into the defender and stayed on his block. His hands are good (see 00:30 or 1:15 or 3:01) and can occasionally buy enough time to overcome footwork issues.

Dobbs also got some snaps at defensive tackle, where he was about as likely to knock a guy back as he was to get knocked back. He did record a few nice tackles; there’s a highlight video on his maxpreps page that’s all defense. I think his future is on offense, but it’s hard to tell this far out.

That’s really the takeaway from this eval: he’s talented, his issues are teachable, and he’s got a lot of time left to develop. Dobbs is one of those guys you get a hundred yards away from and can plainly see that they have the frame of a college football player. He’s got a skillset that warrants having a number of offers without even being halfway through high school. Dobbs is a guy to keep a close eye on, especially after a couple more camp circuits and high school seasons.