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Laremy Tunsil posts impressive grade in return against Aggies

Any rust on Laremy Tunsil after missing the first seven games of the season was shaken off in pregame warmups and was non-existent by the first snap of the game. The projected first-round pick posted a +4.8 overall grade — a higher score than any game he had in 2014.

While matched up with another projected first-rounder (but for 2017) in Myles Garrett, Tunsil had one blemish all day long on in pass protection. That came on a holding call right at the beginning of the second quarter. The offensive play calling from Ole Miss helped as it was designed to protect their offensive line from the dominant Texas A&M pass rush. There were very few deep drops as Chad Kelly worked the quick game and screens for most of the day.

It was the run game though where Tunsil really shined. As a sophomore, Tunsil finished just slightly above average as a run blocker. On Saturday he was getting serious movement in both the Rebels zone and power schemes as well as finding the Aggies linebackers in space at the second level.

It was an extremely impressive performance that ranks right up there with the best we’ve seen this year. In fact, only 10 tackles have earned a higher overall grade against a Power-5 school, and only two of those came against SEC opponents.

Comparing him to other top tackles in the draft is difficult at this point with the sample size differences, but it’s worth at least checking in on where they stand. Spencer Drango (Baylor), Jack Conklin (Michigan State), and Ronnie Stanley (Notre Dame) have all graded very highly in pass blocking and run blocking and have been getting considerable draft hype. Others like Taylor Decker (Ohio State) and Germain Ifedi (Texas A&M) have struggled to show consistency in pass protection. Out of those five, only Decker has been able to put up a game that graded out similarly to Tunsil’s on Saturday.

Offensive line play is about consistency though and you’d like to see him not have any let downs like he did against Trey Flowers and Arkansas last year (-2.4 grade). It was a fantastic start for the junior though, and it should only get easier from here with the weak Auburn defensive line slated for next week.

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