Scouting Report: Joe Alt (OT) - Notre Dame
Sales Pitch: “Pro-ready tackle with a well rounded play style. Ironman left tackle with high football IQ that thrives in the run game. Above average athlete with the power to road grade defensive lineman.”
Athletic Profile
Height: 6’ 8 5/8”
Weight: 321 lbs
Arm Length: 34 1/4”
Hand Size: 10”
40 Yard Dash: 5.05
10 Yard Split: 1.73
Vertical: 28”
Broad Jump: 9’ 4”
Short Shuttle: 4.51
3-Cone: 7.31
Age: 21
Relative Athletic Score: 9.93 / 10.00
Statistics
Career: 4 Sacks - 5 QB Hits - 24 Pressures - 4 Penalties
2023: 1 Sacks - 2 QB Hits - 5 Pressures - 2 Penalties
Strengths
Elite size/length profile for a LT
Above average athlete with good straight-line explosiveness
High IQ player with multi year starting of experience
Cornerstone player on the offensive line w/ 34 straight starts
Powerful, accurate hands in the run game
Plus length and play strength to control and steer defensive lineman
Excellent blocker in both gap and zone schemes
Power to create significant displacement at the point of attack
Good balance and hand placement in pass protection
Utilizes his length to ride speed rushers wide of the pocket
Strength to neutralize power rushers
Quick processor against stunts and blitzes
Weaknesses
Limited flexibility in his middle half limits his ability to anchor in pass protection
Below average recovery footspeed in pass protection
Taller player that occasionally has difficulties with high pad level
Hands will shoot late on deeper pass sets allowing defenders into his frame
Speed to power gives him difficulty if he does not get hands on early
Summary
Very few players in all of college football were as consistently great as Joe Alt in 2023. The captain LT and 2x All-American started 34 straight games for the Fighting Irish in his career and leaves as one of the best tackles in school history. Alt is a well rounded player who is above average in both pass protection and run blocking. He is at his best as a run blocker on gap scheme runs where his strength and hand placement really shine. Alt does a fantastic job using his length and power to displace lineman at the point of attack and then steer them away from the play. While he is not as adept on zone blocking scheme runs due to limited lateral agility, his ability to take proper angles and consistently stay balanced while working his feet is enough to overcome it. Alt is a better run blocker than pass blocker, but he is not slouch when its time to air it out. Alt has accurate powerful hands that allow him to stun defenders off the line. He has the strength to neutralize power rushers and the technique and savvy to control speed rushers. Even when speed rushers are able to get a step on him, he has the length to ride them wide until his feet catch up. Alt is also tremendous at passing off stunts and picking up blitzers, an area where his experience really shines. There aren’t a lot of glaring holes in Alt’s game outside of him lacking a true elite trait. Just a good athlete as opposed to a great athlete he can be beat in pass protection by high end pass rushers. Alt lacks some flexibility in his core and it can cause him to struggle to anchor in pass protection. Pass rushers that are effective at using Speed to Power moves are able to get inside his frame and collapse the pocket as his hands tend to be late to fire if he doesn’t immediately engage with a defender. At only 21 years old with a high floor and great college production, Alt projects to go very high in the draft. While he might not have the physical upside of other tackles in the class his well rounded game that fits in a variety of schemes will be highly coveted and has a good shot to make him OT1 in the class.