Cyril Richardson has been a key component of Baylor’s offensive line for the past few years. He has played both tackle and guard, but it is the latter where he clearly belongs. Each year he has progressed in his techniques, utilizing his brute strength to open holes for his running backs and his quick feet to protect his QB in the pocket.
Richardson’s biggest strengths are his extraordinary power and his ability to bend the opposing defensive linemen to his every whim in the run game.
At 6-5, 340 pounds you will very rarely see someone beat him with a bull rush. But even though he is massive, he still retains some quickness. For example, when the offense runs a counter play, he shines in his ability to pull to the play-side of the line and create a massive hole for his RB to follow. He reaches the second level more often than not – an aggressive quality that is great to see from a guard.
In pass protection, Richardson is not quite as dominant. However, he certainly holds his own as you will rarely see his man get to the QB. His powerful base allows him to keep most defensive linemen he faces out of the backfield and he shows great patience when analyzing the pass rush, but it’s his arms that need work. He will sometimes allow pass rushers to get past him when it looks like he could have easily adjusted his angle and reached out to block.
On top of his skills on the field, he has a great mentality to go along with it.
He has overcome many obstacles in his life; the most prominent of which being when his family was displaced due to Hurricane Katrina. He has a great determination to succeed and I believe that he would never stop trying to better himself.
Strengths: Size, Power, Burst, Run-blocking
Weaknesses: Recognizing blitzes, needs to be more aggressive with his arms in pass protection
