Personal Background
High school
- Two-time captain
- Four-star recruit (ESPN, 247 Sports, Rivals and Scout.com)
College
- Won the Dick Maginnis Memorial Award (team’s outstanding lineman)
- Rimington Trophy Watchlist (nation’s top center)
- Outland Trophy Watchlist (nation’s top offensive lineman)
Production
- Played in all 38 games in his career (both guard positions and at center)
- 20 starts at guard and 14 at center
Film Reviewed
2018
- Appalachian State
- Iowa
- Ohio State
- Pittsburgh
2017
- Michigan
- Washington (Fiesta Bowl)
Measurables
- Year – Junior
- Height – 6’5 3/8″
- Weight – 308 pounds
McGovern wears #66 in the following clips
Strengths
- Sports an NFL-sized frame that still needs to develop
- Smart, experienced ball player with meaningful reps at center and guard
- Displays smooth footwork and body control into run fits
- Flashes of very good technique on combination blocks to secure the first level
- Ideal foot speed as a puller; able to get out into space and pick off his target
- Springy feet that are in tune with his processing of pass rush plans
- Exhibits patience as the defense sends two- and three-man games at him. Lets the rush unfold, finds his mark and then rides him wide of the spot.
- Good lateral ability; executes the mirror drill on twists and stunts
- Able to recover when over-setting. Quickly adjusts his leverage to cut off the rusher’s line to the QB.
- Very tough lineman to beat with power. His anchor techniques paired with his feet make him very difficult to bull rush.
Weaknesses/Question Marks
- Strong upper body, but would like to see more power generated from his base
- Processor malfunctions versus fronts that leave him uncovered
- Struggles processing pass rush plans by rushers who are coming at him on an angle. Works better in a phone booth, can get caught guessing.
- In the run game, slanting rushers and gap exchanges tested his ability to get his body in position to execute his job in the zone run game
- Doesn’t unfurl his hips on contact in the run game, which can lead to losses or stalemates
- Inconsistent technique in the run game
- Footwork needs to be better on combination blocks. The lack of attention to detail lessens the possibility of vertical or horizontal displacement of defensive linemen.
- Needs to improve his timing and understanding of when to release to the second level defender after combination blocks.
- Angles on down blocks needs improvement, too often he is relying on just his hands as leverage. Incorporating his body to wall off the defender will seal the hole more efficiently.
- Gets caught bending at the hips and looking to drive half a click too soon in the run game, which allows defenders to arm-over and disrupt the run play
- Tracking to the second level needs work while at guard. Can take loose angles to linebackers, allowing them to sneak through to make the tackle.
- Ability to stay engaged at the second level does not show up enough on film
- Doesn’t keep shoulders square to the line of scrimmage on jump sets or during slide protection, which invites inside moves.
- Can become enamored with protecting his gap in slide protection; will over-set as the defender slants inside
- While at center, communication with adjacent linemen needs to improve versus twists, stunts or games are executed by the defense. Allowed the looper from out wide to affect the QB’s spot.
Overall
McGovern has the type of versatility and experience that teams love. His experience at guard and center are exactly the combination that teams covet, seeing as how they only like to dress six or seven linemen on gameday (one tackle, one G/C). While he weighed in at 308 pounds at the combine, he played in the 320-pound range, and I believe that is where his weight should be. His frame can easily carry more muscle. He is a good athlete who plays best in the phone booth but moves well in space. That’s because he has reactive feet that quickly get him on the perimeter on pulls or mirroring a defender’s rush. McGovern’s lateral agility is sneaky; he can extinguish a 3-technique’s rush across his face or execute a double under-hop to anchor versus a nose tackle.
Most of McGovern’s question marks are correctable. First, I would like to see him improve his lower body power. I’m not talking about doing more squats; I’m talking about improving the power generated from his lower body. McGovern simply doesn’t generate much movement in the run game because he doesn’t roll his hips or explode his hips on contact and at times will look to drive before he has control of the defender. In this case, the defensive lineman will simply execute an arm-over or it leads to many stalemates and losses in 1-on-1 situations. His run fits need some refinement, as well. On down blocks, his approach is loose, which allows the defender to retrace over the top to make the tackle on the ball carrier. The Pennsylvania native also struggles with his technique on combination blocks. Too often he doesn’t fit knee to knee and hip to hip to uniformly drive the defender off the ball. While McGovern possesses NFL athletic ability to get to the second level, sticking to linebackers and using his feet to maintain leverage does not occur often enough. In the passing game, on slide side of pass protections he gets tunnel vision in his gap and at times will fail to keep his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage. This minor error, paired with his tendency to over-set, invites an abundance of inside moves. He does have the ability to change direction quickly and the hands to recover, but this could be a troublesome area that could make the QB uneasy.
Overall, I believe that McGovern is a fourth-round pick who teams will covet because of his ability to hold his own at two different positions along the interior offensive line. McGovern has a pretty high ceiling at both positions. His best fit is in gap, man, and inside zone schemes, where he can work combination blocks to create movement but also pull out into space as a puller. McGovern’s athletic profile should allow him to shine in most passing schemes.
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