Cam Jurgens NFL Draft 2022: Scouting Report for Nebraska IOL

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HEIGHT: 6’3″

WEIGHT: 290

POSITIVES

— Springy, loose and twitched-up mover with very good athletic ability and quickness.

— Maximizes his power output by generating impressive force from the ground to his hands for immediate torque and jolt on contact.

— Runs like a deer to track down and zero in on targets up to the third level of a defense.

— Above-average core strength and balance to brace, strain and stay attached to blocks.

— Shows good mobility in his lower half to sink his hips, successively hop back and “die slowly” in his anchor against the bull rush.

— Has a junkyard-dog mentality and plays with outstanding effort throughout games.

NEGATIVES

— Light in the pants, with marginal girth and mass that will require heavy scrutiny into how much weight his frame can handle.

— Lacks the weight and length to maintain his clench and control against bigger, quality interior run defenders who work his edges; gets pressed off, stacked and shed too easily.

— Wide hand placement exacerbates middling length and gives easy access into his frame.

— Plays at a breakneck, frenetic pace that limits his ability to consistently line up targets on uncovered climbs up to the second level.

2021 STATISTICS

– 12 starts at center.

– Third-team All-Big 10 selection by the coaches.

NOTES

— Former 4-star tight end recruit, top overall recruit in Nebraska and top 10 tight end nationally out of Beatrice High School.

— Jurgens was a multisport and multiposition star at Beatrice, starting at linebacker in addition to tight end and even punted as a junior, averaging 35.8 yards per punt. He also played basketball—he averaged 12.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as a junior—and was a four-time state champion in the discus and three-time state champion in the shot put.

— Suffered a season-ending injury in the final regular-season game as a senior in high school and as a true freshman at Nebraska in 2018.

— In 2019, Jurgens became the first freshman (true or redshirt) starting center at Nebraska since 1972.

— Made 31 career starts at center.

OVERALL

Cam Jurgens was a three-year starter inside Nebraska’s multiple run-play option/play-action heavy system with 31 career starts at center. He was listed at 290 pounds this past season and has a noticeably lean build with marginal mass and girth that calls into question how much more weight he can put onto his frame.

Jurgens originally committed to Nebraska as a tight end. He has been playing offensive line for only three years after converting to the position as a redshirt freshman in 2019.

Jurgens is an explosive, twitched-up athlete with an ultra-physical playing style and the ability to generate impressive power and torque. He excels getting underneath bigger interior run defenders on combo and double-team blocks with very good pad level and jolt in his hands to create quick, initial displacement at the point of attack. He has above-average core strength and balance to stay attached to blocks post-contact, but he gets pressed and stacked too quickly, limiting his ability to maintain control.

Jurgens glides up to the second and third level of the defense with the range to zero in on safeties and corners and the grip strength and leg drive to dump and plant them once latched. He needs to learn to harness his speed up to the second level when uncovered, as he too often overruns his target and gets beat underneath.

Jurgens flashes some well-timed independent strikes against head-up nose tackles to win the leverage battle, and he has the mobility and wiry strength to “die slowly” in his anchor against a straight bull rush. However, his wide hand placement and middling arm length create a soft edge that moderately skilled rushers exploit and work around with ease.

Overall, Jurgens is undersized, and he will likely require guard help built into whatever scheme he lands in to help him in pass protection. But he is still relatively new to the offensive line, and he has excellent athletic ability, explosiveness and competitive toughness to offer as a high-end developmental center with starter potential down the road.

GRADE: 6.4 (Round 5 – High-Level Developmental Prospect)

PRO COMPARISON: Jason Kelce-lite

Written by B/R NFL Scout Brandon Thorn