He had 50 starts in college at Georgia, but only 18 of them were at the offensive tackle position. It's why some NFL talent evaluators aren't certain if he's capable of manning the left tackle spot at the game's highest level. But Cordy Glenn has definitely made the most of one season on the blind side for the Bulldogs.
Most of Glenn's collegiate starts came at guard (28), but in 2011 he was moved out to left tackle and in his first couple of games he struggled. Then he appeared to find a comfort zone and got better as the season went on. Following a solid showing at the NFL Combine, which at 6'5" 345 pounds included 31 reps on the bench, Glenn is seen as a first-round prospect.
"Cordy Glenn, yes, he's not as nasty as you'd like to see, and every once in a while he leans on guys and that turned off a lot of scouts," said ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay. "But he can move a lot better than people give him credit for. And he was horrible early in the year when they moved him from guard to left tackle. People think it's easy to move out to left tackle from guard. It's not. His progress shows you how much he worked at it and how good he can get."
"I'm versatile," said Glenn. "I can play either guard or tackle. I think that's good for me. I don't know what teams are thinking, so I'm just going in and doing everything I can to impress them."
Glenn doesn't try to chase down players to block, he lets them come to him knowing he's in their direct route to his quarterback. A violent hand punch is not something he possesses, but with his nearly 36-inch arms he can keep pass rushers at bay. And when opposing defensive ends try to bowl him over he simply engulfs them.
"People try to bull rush me, but I'm pretty good at sitting it down," he said. "I just have a big, wide frame, so it's not a problem for me. I'd say my best attribute would probably be my power."
But Glenn's feet are good enough to in the eyes of some NFL scouts to face the speed rushers off the offense's left side in the pros. They simply believe he's only begun to tap into his vast potential. Still others have concerns about his lack of time on the job at the all important blind side position.
Glenn knows the importance of the role in a quarterback-driven league, which is why he isn't taking the jump to the NFL lightly.
"I'm just working on getting better overall," said Glenn. "I think I'm pretty good at everything.
I might work on pad level or hand placement. There are a lot of little things I can work on and get better at. Everybody at the next level is a pretty good athlete, so I'm just trying to get better as far as my overall game."
