Ideal Landing Spots for Arlington Hambright
Arlington Hambright spent time at three different schools during his college career. He began at Garden City Community College, where his team won the 2016 NJCAA National Championship. In two seasons, he saw time on both the offensive and defensive lines. After transferring to Oklahoma State, Hambright started in six games, missing half the season with an injury. He saved his best for last, starting all 12 games as a grad transfer at Colorado, while recording 68 knockdown blocks and 12 touchdown blocks. He was also nominated for Pac-12 offensive lineman of the week honors three times.
Hambright really got on scouts' radars with a strong showing at the Hula Bowl. Listed as 6-foot-5, 300 pounds, Hambright has the size and athleticism to play inside or outside on the offensive line. He impressed scouts at his pro day by running a 4.95 40-yard dash, only three offensive linemen at the combine posted times under five seconds. With only 18 starts at the college level, he lacks the experience and consistency on tape to get drafted early on but has a ceiling high enough for teams to take a flier on him as a late-round draft pick or an undrafted free agent. NFL.com Draft Analyst Chad Reuter has Hambright going in the seventh round in his latest mock draft.
Projected Round: 7th round-Undrafted Free Agent
New York Jets: General Manager Joe Douglas spent significant funds beefing up the offensive line by signing Connor McGovern and George Fant. While many are calling for Gang Green to draft another offensive lineman in the first round, waiting until the later rounds or exploring the undrafted pool would allow them to address other positions of need early on and allocate their high draft pick funds elsewhere. They need low-cost, productive players behind Fant, guard Brian Winters, and second-year right tackle Chuma Edoga.
Hambright could serve as a versatile, inexpensive, serviceable, depth piece that could step in should someone go down with an injury. If quarterback Sam Darnold is going to take the next step in year three, he’s going to need better protection up front and Hambright would effectively contribute to that. With his size, he could earn immediate playing time as a swing tackle or extra tight end, which would boost a running game that ranked second to last in the league last season.
Pittsburgh Steelers: After trading for Minkah Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh has six total picks and won’t make their first selection till the second round. The Steelers are no stranger to developing undrafted offensive lineman, molding tackle Alejandro Villanueva into a two-time Pro Bowler and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s permanent blindside protector.
Hambright would be able to learn behind a tackle that followed a similar career trajectory to become one of the league’s best tackles. Villanueva is in the final year of his contract and Hambright could use a year learning behind him with the expectation of becoming his replacement.
Speaking of Roethlisberger, he definitely needs more weapons around him as he recovers from a season-ending elbow injury and enters the final stage of his career. With a deep draft class at receiver, this would allow Pittsburgh to double down and hedge multiple bets on a position of need. With the versatility to play inside, Hambright could also potentially step in for aging guards Stefan Wisniewski and David Decastro.
Cleveland Browns: With the exception of right guard Wyatt Teller, the entire Browns offensive line is on lengthy, expensive contracts. Eventually, they’re going to need to get younger and cheaper at the position. With no immediate needs at any of the spots, they can afford to keep a developmental prospect on the roster with hopes of grooming them into a starter down the line.
Hambright definitely fits the bill of a bigger, stronger, more physical offensive lineman, but needs some work with his technique and discipline. Newly hired offensive line coach Bill Callahan has a large body of experience working with raw tackles, and could clean up the fundamentals in Hambright’s game while finding ways to build on his strengths.
Theoretically, the former Oklahoma State Cowboy would have the opportunity to test his ability at guard and tackle while eventually settling into the spot that fit him best whenever a need arose.
