Maryland football film breakdown: OT Alan Herron

The offensive line has been the looming question mark for the Terrapins over the past few seasons. After needing to replace four of its five starters heading into 2023, head coach Mike Locksley hit the portal to retool the trenches.

Gottlieb Ayezde came over from Frostburg State, Corey Bullock filled in from North Carolina Central, and Mike Purcell was an export from Elon. All came with question marks having played collegiate ball at lower levels, but came in and played pivotal roles in a revamped Maryland offensive line. Flash forward to this offseason and the unit faces similar issues. Ayedze, Purcell, and Bullock have all moved on while mainstay Maryland tackle, DJ Glaze, opted to enter the NFL Draft.

Again, Mike Locksley has been tasked with retooling the offensive line. Just like last season, Mike Locksley has gotten creative with filling holes for the offensive line. One of these additions comes in Shorter (D-2) offensive tackle, Alan Herron, as offensive line coach Brian Braswell spearheaded efforts to add the impact tackle. After initially committing to Penn State, Herron flipped his pledge to Maryland during the early signing period after a late official visit to campus.

With an impressive frame at 6-foot-5, 317 lbs, Herron is penciled in as one of the opening-day starters at tackle–which side remains the question. Herron, who is originally from Jamaica, started every game over the past two seasons for Shorter. As the spring football season is about to ramp up, we take a look at the film to see what Maryland has in Alan Herron.

The first thing that sticks out with Herron is his size at the D2 level. This is a D1-sized player playing in D2 and it really shows on tape. In nearly every clip, Herron monsters over his opposing edge rusher and uses this size to wall them out. Defenders often just did not have the size to create leverage against Herron. To his credit, Herron used his size well and knew how to play it to his advantage. He used all of his frame to create a barrier that defenders just could not get around. Herron is a big boy and will still have an impressive frame for Big Ten standards. His size can still be utilized to make it hard for even the best Big Ten edge rushers to get around.

In this clip, Herron is a little slow off the line but uses his size to keep the defender from gaining any traction. It is clear that the edge rusher just has no chance to move Herron.

In this next clip, Herron displays solid footwork for his frame. In pass protection, I always believe footwork is key. At a large frame, Herron never stood out as a great athlete on tape, however, in this clip he displays some solid speed and footwork to lock out the defender from the pocket. The defender tries to escape the contact by escaping, but Herron shuffles his feet and stays engaged in the block. This highlight gives me optimism in his ability to react to the quick pass rushers he may face at the next level.

Another strength for Herron is his instinct to stay engaged on blocks. Often with offensive linemen, you see them give them up on blocks once they think the play is over. Countless times I noticed Herron stay engaged on blocks through the whistle. This is a solid trait to have and it leads to fewer sacks on the quarterback–a potentially athletic one for the Terps assuming MJ Morris or Billy Edwards wins the starting role. Herron’s ability to stay engaged in blocking for long stretches should create more time for the quarterback to move around the pocket, or even use his legs to extend the play.

Now, I did notice some flaws in Herron’s game as well. As I mentioned previously, Herron did not jump off the page as an athlete. His center of gravity is often way too high to the point where he is standing straight up and not moving his feet. This worked due to his size against inferior competition, but he’ll need to prove it against athletic pass rushers in the Big Ten who can bend around Herron to create pressure.

In this play, Herron engages quickly but immediately stands straight up. His center of gravity is not athletic and is vulnerable for elite edge rushers to bend out of this.

Herron’s hand placement is often too high as well. Herron engages in blocks with his hands on his opponent’s shoulders rather than driving his hands into his opponent’s chest and getting in a low athletic stance. Again, he can get away with this due to size (as you can see in the next clip he drives an opponent to the ground), but I still think this trait is a cause for concern at the next level. High hands are always taught as a no-no as an offensive lineman. The trenches are all about leverage and when Herron faces opponents at his size and skill level, this trait can lead him to be vulnerable and imitate a turnstile. High hands can also lead to holding penalties and the last thing Terps fans want is more holding penalties to kill momentum.

Herron also tends to reach on blocks due to his lack of athleticism. In this clip, Herron has a late reaction to the snap and gets into his pass protection kicksteps slowly. Herron seems to be uncomfortable with his knees bent and reaches to block the defender, rather than waiting and engaging. This trait is concerning as Herron often appears off-balance on plays like these and you can almost picture an athletic defender blowing right around him to the quarterback. Herron will have to work on avoiding reaching to block and becoming unbalanced to block the best pass rushers this country has to offer.

Overall, Herron is a raw prospect. His size and strength are incredible and his ability to dominate defenders with these traits is impressive. I would like to see him become more athletic, especially in pass protection, to take his game to the next level. His tendency to stand straight up and get his hands high will be among the coaching points heading into the season, but Brian Braswell potentially has a multi-year starter to work with given Herron’s two additional years of eligibility.

Maryland football film breakdown: OT Alan Herron

Richard Welch