by J.T. Toth
Photo courtesy of Alabama Athletics.
The NFL Draft talk never ends and we are here at Draft 412 in an effort to keep you ready for the next set of gridiron stars. From today until draft night 2024, we will bring you mocks, profiles, team needs, and everything else related to the 2024 NFL Draft.
Today’s Spotlight - Alabama, OT, J.C. Latham
Name- J.C. Latham
Pos- OT
Team- Alabama
HT/WT- 6’6” 326 lbs.
Born- 2/8/2003
Home – Oak Creek, WI
J.C. Latham is a 5-star recruit out of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. Latham played tackle and defensive end in high school and was selected as a tackle to play in the 2020 Under Armour All-American game.
As a true freshman at Alabama in 2021, Latham played in 14 games as a backup. Latham would start all 13 games as a sophomore for the Crimson Tide. According to Rolltide.com, Latham recorded 29 knockdown blocks in 2022. Entering the 2023 season, Latham is an Athlon Sports first team All-American and predicted to be one of the top offensive tackles selected in the draft.
When Latham gets his hands right and opponents under control, he manhandles them until the whistle blows. He plays with a nastiness and will not let up until the play is over. For a big man, he does a good job of using feet once engaged and will drive defenders back. He has broad shoulders and good upper body strength to engage pass rushers of any size. With his agile feet, he gets to the second level of defenders well.
As a player, Latham is intelligent, knows and runs his scheme assignments well, and does a consistent job of sealing off the edge. He has the ability to extend his arms well without losing power on initial contact. As a lineman, he excels as a run blocker and loves to battle his opponents one-on-one.
Seen as too much of a waist bender at times, Latham will sometimes get caught reaching instead of moving his feet. There are times when he can get lazy against the faster pass rushers and tends to play better in tight quarters than he does in space. He also has a tendency to drop his head and lunge forward which will throw off his balance. He needs to fix this to be consistent at the next level.
Strengths
Good hand placement
Upper body strength, size
Nastiness, plays through the whistle
Run blocking
Wide base
Weaknesses
Has head down at times, loses balance
Struggles in space
Can lose edge by lunging instead of moving feet
Final Analysis
J.C. Latham is one of the top three tackles in this draft and should hear his name called in the first half of the 2024 draft.
Prediction- Top 20 pick in 2024.