Taking a quick break from talking about the high end of prospects to talk about a player you probably won’t hear about in the draft process. Matthew Trehern is 6’3 310lbs with solid length and is very strong but no matter where you look or how big of a board you find, you won’t find his name. I decided I would shed light on a potential gem from this draft class even if he won’t hear his name called this May.
Trehern started all 3 years he played at UAB and has played both Left and Right guard. He has NFL size at 6’3 310 with 33 inch arms, and is has good strength with solid explosiveness. He does his best work on down blocks and is really good at getting upfield. If he can get his hands on you he’s not getting them off. He’s not an elite athlete but he’s quick enough to get to the second level before a LB can get downhill and fit a gap. He’s solid in base situations too, he keeps defenders from creating a new line, although he’s not going to make huge wholes either. In pass pro he’s good at stonewalling anyone that tries to bulrush him and although he can get beat by speed he’s generally good at recovering and won’t allow a lot of sacks (allowed 6 snaps in 1,020 pass blocking snaps in his career at UAB, or a .6% sack rate which is great). I also like him in the screen game. He’s just quick enough to get out into the open field before a defender can get to the WR and if he gets his hands on a DB they’re hitting the floor. He may struggle more at the NFL against quicker defenders but I don’t think it’s a *huge* issue. He’s also good at picking up blitzers in the pass game and has a high IQ. If he plays in a gap scheme he can provide solid run blocking out of the gate.
The biggest issue with Trehern (and the reason why he most likely won’t get drafted) is his age. Trehern played 6 years of college ball and is already 25(!) years old which is the age of some vets in the league. This makes it to where if you aren’t a team that’s trying to win now there’s little reason to draft him which really limits down who would want to draft him. Another issue is he’s not a great athlete. He’s not very good at reach blocks and it’s really easy for quicker DTs to get past him when he has to turn his hips. I don’t love him in the passing game. Quicker DTs give him problems in the passing game, because Trehern has a bad habit to lean into defenders on pass blocks instead of punching with his hands which makes it really easy for better pass rushers to beat him initially (even if he can recover an elite NFL DT will get more sacks on him). He is a nice stonewaller but I question if he’ll get the chance to stonewall defenders as much in the NFL if he’s constantly getting beat on first contact.
My opinion on Trehurn is he’s a very solid run blocker and a suspect pass blocker that’s one of the oldest players in the draft. I think he’s a good enough run blocker that a contender with a IOL need could take a flier on him late in the 7th or more likely in FA especially since this is a weaker IOL class. I love me some down blocks and he does a great job at them. His teammates and coaches seem to love him as well (he had the most votes to be a captain for UAB this year and was called the heart and soul of the UAB offense). He probably won’t get drafted but I want to shed some light on him because he’s good enough to at least get a chance
Player Grades
• Athleticism/Frame: 5/10
• Strength: 7.5/10
• Base blocking: 6/10
• Down blocking: 7.5/10
• Reach blocking: 3/10
• Run blocking: 6.5/10
• Pass blocking: 3/10
• IQ: 7/10
Overall Grade: 5/10 (UDFA)
TheDyspatch 