Scouting Kelvin Beachum
Earlier this month, the Jets confirmed the signing of former Steelers and Jaguars offensive lineman Kelvin Beachum. Despite already having re-signed Ben Ijalana, the Jets moved quickly to sign Beachum, who they had shown interest in 12 months prior. The Jaguars had decided to let Beachum go by not exercising the option at the end of the first year of his five-year deal.
The 27-year-old Beachum is listed at 6-foot-3, 308 pounds, and was a former seventh round pick out of SMU in 2012. He played four seasons for the Steelers before moving on to Jacksonville during free agency last year. Beachum had established himself as a solid starter with the Steelers, until he suffered a torn ACL in the 2015 season. While he started 15 games with the Jaguars last year, they opted not to retain him on what would have effectively been a four-year, $40 million extension.
The Jets signed Beachum to a more team-friendly three-year, $24 million contract, half of which was guaranteed. He can void the last year of the deal if he makes it to the pro bowl in either of the first two seasons.
Background
Beachum was a four-year starter at SMU and was selected in the seventh round of the 2012 draft by the Steelers.
As a rookie, Beachum had played just seven snaps when starting right tackle Mike Adams went down with a season-ending ankle injury in week 12. He filled in and held his own as a starter over the last five games.
In 2013, an injury crisis on the offensive line at the start of the season meant that Beachum had to play every position apart from right guard during the first month. Thereafter, Adams was benched and Beachum became the starting left tackle for the rest of the year, although he was forced to kick inside temporarily during one game due to another injury, this time to left guard Ramon Foster.
In 2014, he was the full-time left tackle from the start and played every snap, as he made 16 appearances for the only time in his career. This was also his best season, as Pro Football Focus had him ranked in the top five at his position and third-best in terms of pass protection.
His 2015 season was also off to a solid start, but he suffered his season-ending ACL tear in week six. After departing for Jacksonville, he would make 15 starts, but had a career high nine penalties and gave up the most pressure he ever has in a season.
Let's move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Beachum brings to the table, based on my research and film study.
Usage
When he first entered the league, Beachum was projected as a guard. Even though he played left tackle at college, his lack of size made it seem unlikely he’d play that role in the pros. Sure enough, on his arrival in Pittsburgh, Beachum was immediately moved to guard, although he also continued to work at tackle.
Since the middle of the 2013 season, Beachum has only played left tackle and it was widely assumed that would be the role the Jets have in mind for him. However, Todd Bowles recently suggested that they plan to start off with him competing with Brandon Shell at right tackle, leaving Ben Ijalana to start on the left.
Beachum also played left guard and center during his time at Pittsburgh though, so if he struggles at tackle and/or injuries occur, it’s theoretically possible the Jets might consider experimenting with a move back inside.
Measurables/Athleticism
While Beachum is listed in some places as being as heavy as 316 pounds, he was only 303 pounds at the combine in 2012. There he posted average numbers across the board. In addition to being short for the position – he’s just under 6-foot-3 – Beachum lacks length with 33¼” arms.
Run Blocking
Beachum is regarded as more of a finesse tackle than a run blocking specialist, although he did grade out positively as a run blocker in 2014 according to Pro Football Focus. His run blocking grade in 2016 was by far the worst of his career, but – as we know from D’Brickashaw Ferguson over the years – a left tackle’s run blocking grade can often follow the success of the unit as a whole rather than him being a primary cause of that success.
Beachum can be effective in space, both on running plays and screen passes. He’ll often get out to the second level and take a linebacker out of the play, but seems to be susceptible to quickness, both at the point of attack and out at the second level, often overshooting his man. In terms of screen passes, he hasn’t shown much in the way of getting out in front of a back, but he’s proven particularly adept at sprinting outside to wipe out a cornerback on a receiver screen, including several pancake blocks.
At the point of attack, Beachum will sometimes get a good surge going. One advantage of being only 6-foot-3 is that he can at times gain an immediate leverage advantage over any lineman who gets inconsistent with his pad level. However, he can get overpowered at the point of attack by stronger players from time to time.
Here’s some strong evidence that he can be an asset in the running game, as he made several good blocks to contribute to a 111-yard performance by Le’Veon Bell in a 2015 game. Here you get to see Beachum (wearing #68) blocking downhill to open up an outside lane, making a reach block on the move on the outside, cleaning picking up a defensive back at the second level and gaining and sustaining outside leverage to set the edge:
It’s perhaps no coincidence that this was his last full game before his knee injury and perhaps shows that he was developing as a run blocker.
He was less consistent in 2016, whiffing on blocks in space, losing leverage and getting stood up with more regularity, but here’s one highlight that led to a long touchdown run. On this play, he initially drives his man off the line and then peels off to seal a linebacker on the inside at the second level:
Pass Protection
The good news is that, despite giving up a career-high 47 total pressures, Beachum actually only surrendered four sacks. PFF also gave him a slightly better pass blocking grade than the incumbent left tackle Ben Ijalana and also Russell Okung, who signed a much bigger free agency deal with the Los Angeles Chargers. Given that the importance of pass protection from the left tackle position should be weighted far more heavily than run blocking, this suggests Beachum could yet provide an upgrade, assuming that's where he ends up.
The bad news is that the film isn’t particularly pretty. That sack number could definitely have been a lot higher if not for Blake Bortles’ escapability in the pocket.
While Beachum mirrors well in terms of pass protection, his lack of strength can be a big issue. Maybe you can put him on an island and trust him not to get beaten outside too often, but – based on his 2016 film – he can be shoved backwards into the quarterback or so that the pass rusher can beat him inside. Only about a quarter of the pressure he surrendered was around the edge.
Here’s a clear example of that, as Von Miller’s power is far too much for him and the resulting pressure leads to Bortles throwing a pick six:
Looking back at footage from earlier in his career, this seemed to be the case pre-injury as well, so it’s not as simple as saying that his pressure numbers went up because his knee didn’t hold up and that specifically made him more susceptible to a bull rush.
His other big issue, at least on plays where he gave up pressure in 2016, was that he doesn’t engage the pass rusher early enough. To some extent this might be because he’s trying to over-compensate, but this makes it easy for the pass rusher to bull rush him because he’s almost already in the quarterback’s lap before the initial contact and also to make a quick change of direction move before Beachum has his man controlled.
Here’s an example of that as Beachum backs off too far and the pass rusher is able to duck around the edge to disrupt the pass, which is again intercepted:
The overriding takeaway from watching his 2016 film was that his lack of length was a big issue and made it too easy for pass rushers to gain separation from Beachum while also making it too difficult for him to recover.
Perhaps in the past he’s been able to get away with it because of his superior athleticism and footwork, but post-injury he’s seemingly found it harder to change direction and anchor with a wide base.
Footwork/Technique
With his lack of size, Beachum considers himself to be a technician and the film from his Steelers days backs this up. He has good footwork and plays with leverage. More recently, he has had the afore-mentioned issues with how he uses his hands, losing battles primarily because he is at a disadvantage in terms of length and is reluctant to engage pass rushers early.
When initially beaten, Beachum doesn’t tend to give up, working hard to get back into the play and doing what he can to slow down his man.
You wonder how much his injuries have slowed down his ability to recover because he seemed to bend at the waist when at a disadvantage in pass protection, whereas in the past he’d have been able to move his feet and stay on the block more routinely.
Penalties
Penalties have been a concern at times with Beachum, who has been flagged 22 times in his last 37 starts. He had a career-worst nine penalties in 2016, six of which were false starts. In the past, he’d mostly been flagged for holding or illegal use of the hands, which accounted for 11 of his 20 penalties as a Steeler and again tended to come from situations where he was being driven back and beaten on the inside. He’s also had two unnecessary roughness penalties.
Instincts/Intelligence
Beachum is regarded as extremely smart, having left college with two degrees, including a masters, and went back to school to deliver the commencement address.
As noted, he had six false starts in 2016, perhaps suggesting that focus was an issue for him last year. Also, at times he had a tendency to step too far to the outside at the snap, failing to account for the pass rusher attacking his inside shoulder or shooting the gap against the run.
I didn’t see many examples of him blowing an assignment and leaving a player completely unblocked, other than a couple of times early on in his career.
Attitude
Off the field, Beachum is a high-character player, regarded as respectful, thoughtful and generous. He’s done a lot of charitable work and other community projects.
Despite this nice guy persona, Beachum plays with a chip on his shoulder and has some nastiness to his game. Coaches have also praised his toughness and professional attitude.
Injuries
The big question surrounding Beachum has been his recovery from the ACL injury in 2015. Clearly the Jaguars were not satisfied that his performance had been good enough to warrant the big extension, even though interim coach Doug Marrone praised him during the final week of the season for how well he had played despite the injuries he was struggling with.
In addition to the ACL, Beachum also was knocked out of a game in week two with a concussion that also kept him sidelined for the following week’s game. He also had to leave a December game temporarily after quarterback Bortles had fallen on his leg.
The most optimistic assessment of Beachum’s chances to do a good job with the Jets would point to the theory that any player coming off an ACL injury would likely struggle in their first year back, but expect to get back to normal in the following season. It remains to be seen if this will hold up.
Scheme Fit
Beachum has extensive experience of both man/gap/power and zone blocking schemes, which is useful because the Jets do both. The Steelers introduced zone blocking concepts to their offense in 2013 and retained many of those after hiring Mike Munchak in 2014. The Jaguars had looked to introduce zone blocking schemes prior to Beachum’s arrival, but trended back towards man concepts in recent seasons.
With his comparative lack of size, you might expect Beachum to be more ideally suited to a zone scheme, but he seems comfortable in either.
Conclusions
Although Beachum graded out badly in 2016, I was expecting his film to be a lot better than it was. There’s a clear difference between how he looked prior to his ACL tear and how he fared last season.
Hopefully there’s a chance he’ll be able to build on last season being one more year removed from the injury, but the chance of him completely recapturing his previous form is unlikely. In that respect, it’s a similar addition to that of Willie Colon and Ryan Clady, neither of whom was able to rediscover the level of play they were capable of before injuries took their toll.
Nevertheless, Beachum is a high character player and a good technician, which should make him a positive influence on the likes of Brandon Shell and Brent Qvale as they continue to try and prove they deserve a full time role. He also joins a kindred spirit in Ijalana, who has overcome his own knee issues to get back into the mix for a starting role.
I find the suggestion that they intend to have him compete with Shell for the right tackle role surprising and wouldn't be surprised to see him end up on the left when all is said and done.
If the Beachum the Jets end up with is the same guy who struggled through last year with Jacksonville, I don’t think the Jets will necessarily be any worse off than they were last year at either tackle position. However, if he can move around a bit more freely in 2017, then there’s a chance he will provide an upgrade. I wouldn’t be too optimistic that he’ll collect on that pro bowl clause in his contract, though.
UP NEXT: Our focus will shift now that we're into draft week. We'll be previewing the draft all week, reporting on the Jets selections and then scouting them all in depth. We'll return to scouting the offseason acquisitions after that with a look at Quinton Patton, who recently signed to add to the Jets’ depth at the receiver position.