NFL Draft: Arkansas OL Ricky Stromberg has Brain and Brawn
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A fixture of the Arkansas Razorbacks offensive line Ricky Stromberg declared for the 2023 NFL Draft shortly after Thanksgiving.
Stromberg has distinguished himself as one of the top interior linemen available in the upcoming draft in Kansas City. Starting all but three games during his four-year career with the Razorbacks, he decided to forgo his extra year of eligibility.
The timing of Stromberg’s decision left him opting out of playing in the Liberty Bowl, but the 2022 First Team All-SEC center will be suiting up once again in the East West Shrine Bowl in Las Vegas on February 2nd. An invitation he accepted almost immediately after declaring for the NFL Draft.
A bizarre twist to his football legacy is Stromberg admired the position he most likely despises the most now – Defensive linemen.
“I was trying to model my game after Nick Bosa and Joey Bosa,” Stromberg laughed when reflecting on his middle school days of football. “When I was younger, I always wanted to be a defensive end I loved watching them and wanted to be a defensive end.”
While his affinity for defensive linemen has faded over the years, Stromberg admits playing with or against the likes of two of his early childhood favorites is a unique opportunity.
“I grew up watching them and tried to model my game after them and all this stuff,” Stromberg said. “And now I’m about to go into a league that they are in. It is kind of surreal.”
It’s not an irrational reality. It is about as real as it gets, Stromberg is going to be one of the top centers taken in the draft.
He has built his reputation on being one of the most physically dominating interior linemen in college football. He loves the physicality. He relishes in the idea of erasing the ambition of his opponent’s willingness to win.
Play by play. He wears them down.
“Ever since a young age, I always just tried to play physical,” Stromberg said.
“I think that’s a thing that makes me a good player. I just like to play football and I like to play it physically. I think when you’re on the o-line or d-line, if you’re not a physical player, then you’re not going to survive down there. There are guys trying to rip your face off every play. I just think my physicality really is the No. 1 standout thing.”
His style of play is evident.
It would only take a few snaps to identify Stromberg’s presence quickly. That physical style of play is easy to notice but he feels that another key component of his game goes easily unforeseen.
“I think my knowledge of the game” is something that goes unnoticed, said Stromberg.
The winner of the prestigious 2022 SEC Jacobs Blocking Trophy (given to the league’s most outstanding blocker). Stromberg did not allow a sack or quarterback hit during his final season in Fayetteville.
Proving his game is more than just physicality.
“I think I have a great knowledge of the game,” Stromberg said. “I like to watch film a lot. I enjoy it. I feel I’ve always been a student of the game and have a great football IQ. I think that is one of my most underappreciated traits.”
Stromberg has proven his mixture of both brain and brawn has helped him reach lofty heights thus far in his football career.
The next level provides Stromberg with an ample number of opportunities to play multiple positions. Well-equipped and experienced at both guard positions and center. His versatility should provide another wrinkle to how teams perceive him.
“I think teams view me as a center, and I feel more comfortable as a center,” Stromberg said.
“I can play guard. I played left guard during my freshman year. I played left guard for like three games and then I moved to right guard for the rest of the season. Then I moved to center the next year and throughout the three years.
“I think teams see me as a center, but I think I can play both guard positions or those three interior spots right there.”
Stromberg’s arrival at Arkansas paid immediate dividends to the offensive line. He quickly entrenched himself into the line-up once he was given the green light.
“When I got there in, like, 2019, I was 270,” said Stromberg, who felt he was too undersized at the time to get realistic playing time.
“Then fall camp came and I was playing pretty good in fall camp. I was with the twos, and I was told I was going to travel. I was like ok, that’s awesome.
“Then Week 1 came, and our starting left guard went down, and they put me in. Then I started Week 2 and throughout the rest of the season. It came in a blink of an eye, honestly. I didn’t think I was going to play, and somebody got hurt.
“The rest is history from there.”
There are plenty of chapters still to be written about Stromberg before we know the full history of one of the top linemen to play at Arkansas.
Stromberg has shown all the earmarks of a prospect capable of paying early dividends on his draft selection.
