Film room: Coker’s pass pro gives chance to make 53-man roster

Breaking down the undrafted free agent’s pass protection skills

After the 2024 NFL Draft, one of the Las Vegas Raiders‘ bigger (literally and figuratively) undrafted free-agent signings was TCU offensive tackle Andrew Coker.

Coker inked a three-year, $2.83 million contract with $95,000 guaranteed which is a decent chunk of change for an undrafted guy. Also, The Athletic listed the former Horned Frog as Las Vegas’ UDFA to watch.

Coker is big and experienced, having made 46 career starts at tackle, including all 15 during TCU’s FBS runner-up season in 2022. With a massive frame (6-7, 315) and 34-inch arms, Coker should compete for a reserve spot.

The TCU product also has a strong track record in pass protection, allowing 42 pressure on 907 opportunities over his last two seasons in college while posting pass-blocking grades of 73.3 and 71.5 from Pro Football Focus. So, that will be the focus of this film breakdown.

Here Coker is going up against a wide 9 technique from the Texas defensive end. Coker does a good job of getting out of his stance and using a 45-degree set to reduce the space between him and the end while also getting some depth in his pass set. That prevents the end from winning around the edge with speed while still being aggressive to get his hands on the end.

From there, the tackle lands his punch with his outside hand perfectly on the pass rusher’s chest and maintains good posture to avoid leaning too far forward. That also allows him to make the first significant contact and finish the rep by riding the defender by on the high side of the rush, creating a nice pocket for the quarterback to throw from.

As the piece above from The Athletic mentioned, the TCU product has good size and length with 34-inch arms and this clip is an example of how that helps him in pass protection.

Again, he’s facing a wide-alignment edge rusher and effectively uses a 45-degree set to reduce the space between him and the rusher, splitting the rusher’s crotch with his second step. Then, Coker lands his punch with the outside hand perfectly on the V of the defender’s neck and with some force to slow down the defender’s momentum.

Notice how Coker locks out the pass rusher and the rusher struggles to use his hands to work a pass rush move. That’s where those long arms come in handy and can be a natural advantage that’s hard for defenders to overcome.

Finally, the offensive tackle recognizes when he’s reached the point of no return, opening his hips and riding the defender by for a quality rep.

This time, the former Horned Frog is going to be in the opposite situation, blocking a defensive lineman that’s lined up on the inside of him.

With SMU putting six defenders on the line of scrimmage and TCU opting to have the running back and tight end release on routes, the offensive line slides right in the pass protection scheme. That means Coker has to step down inside to take care of the 4i-technique defensive end.

However, since SMU has the off-ball linebacker blitz, the right outside linebacker widens post-snap to cover the running back out of the backfield, which means the end works wide to contain the quarterback. That tests Coker’s change of direction skills, but he seamlessly transitions and picks up his man.

Now, he does give up the edge a bit here as the end works a rip move and this isn’t a perfect rep, but Coker stays attached long enough to give the quarterback plenty of time to throw.

As a side note, this ball should be thrown much sooner than it is as the quarterback needs to throw into the blitz and hit the slot receiver running a curl route on the has for an easy first down. Also, the quarterback drifts far too deep in the pocket, which leaves the tackle out to dry.

Picking up stunts is another one of Coker’s strengths in pass protection. In this play, Texas runs a T/E stunt with second-round pick T’Vondre Sweat attacking the offensive tackle. That’s a lot of mass coming the undrafted free agent’s way, but he recognizes what’s going on and gets his eyes inside once the end or outside linebacker starts to loop inside.

That allows Coker to brace himself and use his hands to be a little more aggressive while taking on Sweat. Also, Coker does a good job of dropping his butt to anchor in pass protection which is crucial when going up against a 360-pounder. That gives the quarterback a nice clean pocket to throw from and helps lead to a big gain.

This is another stunt but it’s the opposite of the previous one where the end or outside linebacker attacks the guard and the defensive tackle loops around the outside (E/T stunt).

So, Coker passes off the end to the guard, giving the end a nice shove to keep the end’s momentum going inside and helping to make the guard’s job a little easier. Then, the offensive tackle’s change of direction skills show up again as he redirects and opens his hips to the outside to effectively pick up the defensive tackle.

Again, the quarterback has a clean pocket to throw from and the offense is at least able to turn a third-and-long situation into an opportunity to put points on the board or go for it on fourth and short.