Ht – 6’6” Wt – 303lb Class – SR Age – 24
Attribute Breakdown
Balance – Raimann has superb balance and never gets thrown. He occasionally struggles with active-handed pass rushers, as they throw his arms down which lowers his shoulders and makes him vulnerable.
Power – Lacks top-end functional strength and “nastiness”. While he had a few pancake blocks, he hardly “manhandled” defenders, and was more technically sound than dominating. He possesses a very good leg drive to bulldoze defenders in run blocking, but his overall power is average at best.
Blocking in Space – As a converted TE, he is an elite mover in space. Raimann routinely locked on to defenders in space and completely shut them out of the play. Once he latches on, he will drive you out of tackle contention.
Football IQ – Clearly very cerebral. Has a great understanding and feel for the game, on top of terrific field vision. He throws his hands with great timing and manipulates his blocks perfectly. Additionally, his ability to pick up blitzers or pass rushes in more complex pass rush schemes is remarkable. He had many instances of blocking 2 defenders at once, and his pass-off from one to the other is flawless.
Run Blocking – Talented, but not special. Has great awareness to direct his blocks perfectly to open running lanes. Once he began driving a defender from a non-frontal leverage point, that defender would have no chance.
Lateral Mobility – Elite. His quick feet help him shuffle to the edge in an instant, and his kick-step is wide and fast.
Pass Sets – Raimann showed a lot of great tools for pass pro. He has very active hands, great lateral mobility, quick feet, and phenomenal field vision and blitz processing. He continues his blocks after getting beat. This shows a sensational recovery ability. Interestingly, Miami (OH) had a field day against him, as their defenders used quick hands and edge bending to beat him often. I don’t put too much stock into that game, as it was by far his worst. He also already showed the tools to counter the moves that beat him, and he used those tools successfully often.
Versatility – His talents are precisely fit for a Left Tackle position. He possess unmatched athleticism and movement ability. His lack of functional power prevents him from being an annual interior starter.
Combine – Raimann had one of the most unexpected Combines of all. We expected him to be one of the fastest Linemen, but that the addition of all his weight would affect his change of direction. He showed the exact opposite. He had one of the best 3-Cones and Shuttles, and while his 40-yard dash wasn’t as great as we thought, it was still very good. He is an elite athlete, and it showed.
Overall
Bernhard Raimann is an ATHLETE. He has spent time as a wrestler and even on a track & field team at Central Michigan. He came to CMU initially as a TE, and then was eventually converted to OL. Following the conversion, he spent 2 years as the Chippewas star LT.
One would say that his newness to the position suggests rawness, but I saw a very polished player in Raimann’s tape. He has great football IQ, and he used that to learn the position quickly and play at a high level.
While there are still areas of his game that need improvement, such as his functional power and his ability to deal with hand-power conversions. Nevertheless, he is a masterful technician with elite athleticism. The functional power will likely come with time (the addition of weight is fairly new), and if he is already this technically proficient, the potential is very exciting.
Unfortunately, his Senior Bowl performance was very troubling. His 1v1 drills were terrible, and it seemed defenders were constantly getting the best of him. To make matters worse, the thing that kept beating him was the urgent and nasty pass rushers, who consistently made him look overwhelmed.
It’s rare that my jaw dropped while watching OL tape, but Raimann is that special of a prospect. His Senior Bowl performance lowers his stock a bit for me, but his potential remains unchanged.
See Bernhard Raimann’s overall ranking among other players on my Big Board.
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