From now until the 2023 NFL Draft, we will scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top-10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections, and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on Duke C Jacob Monk.
#63 JACOB MONK/OC DUKE – 6-3, 308 POUNDS. (RS SENIOR)
MEASUREMENTS
| Player | Ht/Wt | Hand Size | Arm Length | Wingspan |
| Jacob Monk | 6030/308 | 10″ | 32 3/8″ | 79″ |
| 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Dash | Short Shuttle | 3-Cone | |
| 5.09 | 1.74 | N/A | N/A | |
| Broad Jump | Vertical | Bench Press | ||
| 9’0″ | 29.5″ | 31 |
*Pro Day Numbers
THE GOOD
– Five-year starter at three different positions and two-time team captain
– Thick, burly build with great upper body strength
– Very athletic and explosive through his lower body
– Shows fluid hips to make proper angle blocks and recover quickly
– Communicates calls and alerts to his fellow offensive linemen
– Very intelligent player who has great pre-snap recognition
– Snap-to-step quickness for A-gap blocks
– Athletic pulling around the edge and finding his work
– Acceleration to reach and seal his zone targets
– Climbs to linebackers at the second level quickly
– Keeps feet moving in space to sustain the block
– Punches with inside hands
– Maintains proper base width through rush mirror
THE BAD
– Arms are short by NFL standards
– Footwork and hands don’t always move in unison
– Strike timing is too often late, leaving his chest open for manipulation
– Hand placement on punches and strikes against speedier players is inconsistent
– Will most likely have to play center full-time and guard if needed
– Plays way too much over his toes and leans into blocks
– Will lose control of the base block due to lack of length
– Has trouble dealing with power players over him
– Can be driven back into quarterback by bull rush
– Could struggle finding redirection of A-gap blitzers
BIO
– Born 6/4/2001 (22 years old)
– 3,777 total snaps (2,361 RG, 759 RT, 539 C); 24 special teams snaps (FG block, FG kick)
– 58 starts (44 consecutive) and appeared in 59 total games over 5 years
– Career: 75 pressures allowed, 14 QB hits allowed, 12 sacks allowed, 20 penalties
– 2023 season: 14 pressures allowed, 3 QB hits allowed, 1 sack allowed, 4 penalties
– Two-time team captain (2022-23)
– 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl participant
– 2023 second-team All-ACC
– 2023 NFF Hampshire Honor Society selection (3.2 GPA or better for entire college career)
– 2021-22 All-ACC Honorable Mention
– Three-Star high school prospect according to 247Sports.com out of Clayton, NC playing guard and center
– Also lettered in track & field in high school
– Graduated from Duke in May 2023 with a African & African American studies and political science degree
– His father was a running back at Duke and signed with the Dallas Cowboys following collegiate career
– Quincy Monk (his late uncle) played LB at the University of North Carolina and played 3 years in the NFL for the NY Giants and Houston Texans (2002-04)
TAPE BREAKDOWN
Jacob Monk was a five-year starter and had 58 starts at center, guard and right tackle inside Duke’s predominately zone-based run scheme. He is undersized with minimal girth and mediocre arm length, but has excellent athletic ability. Although he played multiple different positions at Duke, he’s very likely to find his home at center in the NFL with the capability to play guard if needed. Monk is a very smart player who understands defenses and schemes really well pre-snap to effectively communicate to his teammates. His experience at multiple positions could be attractive for teams looking at just general offensive line depth.
The 22-year-old wins as a run-blocker with explosiveness, power and quickness to reach shades and 2i-techniques consistently. He also overtakes defensive linemen as far out as the 3-technique on combo blocks with the burst and balance to climb, connect and seal off linebackers when uncovered. Watch the contact balance and core strength here to hold his ground and eventually discard the defender by the time the runner gets to the second level.
Monk is No. 63 for the Duke Blue Devils in all of the following clips:
— Jim Hester (@Jh86Guy) April 12, 2024
— Jim Hester (@Jh86Guy) April 12, 2024
Monk plays with solid pad level, leverage and a tight punch with enough upper-body strength and leg drive to finish defenders reaching into rush lanes. Here he seals the inside shoulder of the defender quickly and opens up a great running lane.
— Jim Hester (@Jh86Guy) April 12, 2024
There are really high-level flashes he’ll show as a blocker that make you wonder why he isn’t considered a higher-level prospect with his athleticism, power and experience. Therein lies the crux of the film breakdown of Monk. His technique is not consistent from rep to rep. He will struggle to generate jolt and vertical displacement on base blocks due to below-average square power, which, coupled with mediocre length, leads to getting stacked, pressed off and shed when squared up by stout interior run defenders and long-limbed backers.
He will have trouble shielding and ripping through the nose tackle against odd fronts in time to intersect fast-flowing backers. Monk also has a big issue with lunging and playing too far over his toes. Something that’s hard to shake any time I watch an offensive lineman is them being on the ground too much. There are too many times when he looks off-balance and out of control if he doesn’t get on his block quickly as evidenced here.
— Jim Hester (@Jh86Guy) April 12, 2024
In pass protection, he does a nice job of utilizing independent hands and a bait technique to disrupt the timing of head-up or shaded nose tackles before shooting tight, firm strikes to gain quick access to their frame. His best asset is lateral quickness with good patience to mirror sub-package rushers and cut off blitzers across his face. Here he is working off of a combo block and trying to process pre-snap if the linebacker was going to blitz.
— Jim Hester (@Jh86Guy) April 12, 2024
Monk’s lack of girth and length lead to a shaky, late anchor when isolated against the bull rush that will require guard help to mitigate as a pro. Another noticeable area that Monk has to work on at the next level is his really inconsistent strike timing and hand placement on guys. He will be too late often with his strike timing and leave his chest way too exposed to be driven or worked by defensive linemen. In the Florida State game, he was often lined up across from Braden Fiske and played really well, not even allowing a pressure.
— Jim Hester (@Jh86Guy) April 12, 2024
CONCLUSION
With his size and length limitations, he is really a center-only prospect who can play guard, but he has exceptional athletic ability with a good understanding of leverage that should allow him to compete for an NFL roster spot. There are technical aspects of his game that need cleaned up, but in all fairness to him, he was asked to play a litany of positions and sometimes it was from game-to-game.
He will benefit greatly just from the consistency of the NFL and being able to focus on 1-2 positions, because he really shouldn’t be asked to play tackle at the next level. Monk’s background, experience and playing style is reminiscent of Will Montgomery coming out of Virginia Tech. Both being really athletic and explosive guys who can handle the pivot at the next level, but may not ever reach the heights of others with more gifted athletic tools and technique.
Projection: UDFA
Depot Draft Grade: 6.4 – Backup/Special Teamer (Sixth/Seventh Round)
Games Watched: at Florida State (2023), vs NC State (2023), at Boston College (2022), vs UCF (2022)
