SI All-American Candidate Andrew Canelas Highlights and Evaluation
Prospect: OT Andrew Canelas
Projected Position: Right Tackle
Status: SI All-American Candidate
Vitals: 6-foot-8, 300 pounds
School: Raleigh (N.C.) Leesville Road
Schools of Interest: East Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Duke, N.C. State and Yale, among others.
Frame: Massive. Very tall, with rare width across chest. Midsection needs to be tightened. Relatively slender, developing thighs and trunk. Ample room for additional weight, though emphasis will be strength, composition.
Athleticism: Adequate short-area quickness. Tight hips limit overall mobility, especially in space. Strong, but doesn’t completely overpower prep defenders. Lacks semblance of quick-twitch explosion.
Instincts: Fires out low and hard in run game, occasionally enveloping opponents. Will drive defenders past second level when engaged with arms. Very confident pass blocker; stymies some rushers with one arm. Shows some ability to re-direct kick slide, but takes awhile to change directions.
Polish: Tendency to get upright, especially in open field. Needs to emphasize getting arms, hands to chest of defender. Good initial footwork as run and pass blocker, but often bails to compensate for lack of quickness, speed.
Bottom Line: Canelas is a huge offensive-line prospect, who’s years of training away from scraping his athletic potential. Projects as quality reserve piece at Power-5 level for now, with ceiling to start at right tackle should overall mobility improve with strength-and-conditioning.