I’ve written quite a bit about new Iowa offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor lately, but for tampering and for the NCAA not giving a crap , but what about him as a player?
People slam Proctor because he was a turnstile at Alabama at times as a true freshman offensive tackle. But slow your roll. Proctor was a 5-star out of high school for a reason, but a few things worked against him at Alabama. First off, many of the elite tackles that emerged from Alabama over the years, like Alex Leatherwood, DJ Fluker, Jonah Williams, Jedrick Wills, Evan Neal, and others, all had the advantage of playing either inside or right tackle before flipping. To put a true freshman at left tackle showed how little depth and overall talent this Alabama offensive line had compared to previous seasons. Proctor was essentially thrown to the wolves in the SEC with little chance to be successful protecting the blindside. Elite Alabama offensive linemen have always played early, but Nick Saban was always careful with their fragile confidence and set them up for success. However, he didn’t have that luxury with Proctor, and it hurt him.