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I trust my own eyes and experience far more than I trust PFF and their understanding of the game. I really don't think they are a very reasonable or reliable resource for pretty much anything. You're free to use them. They entertain me but just not something I'd trust to grade anything.
That said, in terms of sacks you can see how meaningful that is when you watch Orlando Brown play. The QB and the offense's design can make up for severe flaws. Also, playing at the college level can mask deficiencies, especially in a less-than-premium conference that features few pro prospects at defensive end.
My view is:
Freeland has relatively slow feet which are largely affected by his build. He doesn't have bad overall athleticism, I'm not saying that. It's just that he doesn't move really well laterally nor can he make those short, choppy steps you'd like to see. Moving forward in a straight line? Aces. I think he can clean some of it up in terms of wasted movements and things like that but being able to be naturally quick is something that he's just not going to be. That, in and of itself, doesn't make it impossible for him to play outside, even at LT.
His long legs also lead to a relatively poor ability to sink his hips and anchor. He'll get out leaning too much as a result and that doesn't hold up as well in the NFL. He'll clean some of this up a bit too but he'll never be reliable in this regard in my opinion.
He has relatively poor core strength but he's still developing. He didn't start playing O-line until a couple of years ago, so I don't doubt he'll get better there.
Also related to his inexperience is his ability to use his hands to his advantage. He'll develop a lot here in the NFL but it's another tick against just being this plug-and-play guy at Left tackle.
What he's good at is also a function of his build. He's extremely long with long arms which makes it a much taller task to just get around him. In the NFL, that length presents the double-edged sword I talked about already.
I think he's got a real shot to be really solid in the NFL but I just don't know that it'll come on the left side. It probably comes on the right. He's gotta get stronger and he has to use his hands. He's going to probably struggle with good speed just like Orlando does. He's probably going to also struggle with really good power early on.
I like him enough that I'd probably take the kid in the 2nd or 3rd round as a RT and live with warts in year 1. I don't have him on my radar as a LT. I know the positions should be relatively "interchangeable" in terms of requisite ability but the quicker pass rushers still tend to live on the left side.
I'm honestly thinking of a comp similar to Mike McGlinchey, for better or worse.
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