School: N. Dakota St.
Year: Sr
Position: IOL
Positional Flexibility: Center or Guard with Tackle Flexibility. Five position player.

Physical Attributes

• Height: 6-6
• Weight: 305
• RAS: DNC
• Bench Press: 26

Rankings

• Joe’s Ranking: 7.2
• Consensus Position Rank: 2
• My Position Ranking: 1
• Difference in Ranking: 1
• Tier: 1
• Projected Round: 2

Games Watched

• Colorado ’24
• Senior Bowl week

Ryan’s Notes

Positives

• Zabel played as a tackle but you can immediately see the IOL mentality, he was tasked with blocking with the guard pulling and he thrived on these looks as he drove low to high with a wide base as he clearly has the footwork to translate lower body power to a run block.
• In pass pro he likes to short set and win with his hands inside ready for any attacks aimed at his chest.
• I think he made a fine college tackle but you can clearly see his transition to inside; however it’s great to have that level of flexibility to be a five position guy.
• Zabel has wide vision to pick up stunts with smooth mirror footwork to adapt to the changing context.
• His ability to push Colorado’s IDLs two gaps over from a disadvantaged alignment was outstanding, I love the tenacity he brings from the tackle spot.
• He has lightning fast reactions, a fast set of hips and the required footwork to keep his balance even when going inside to outside and back again.
• From his guard reps he sometimes overset in pursuit of a big block opening himself up to the counter inside but his recovery speed (probably from his tackle experience) was a tool he used to layer in further dominance coming back to trap rushers before they got to the quarterback.
• I wanted to see a few skills in particular including snapping and pulling as he did very little at NDSU, he nailed both those tasks with some outrageous athletic ability shown on the move plus his desire to finish was as present as always.
• He also showcased nice work on double teams with a nice quick disengagement to enable a climb to the second level.
• The variety of his techniques is fantastic and can answer every type of rusher.
• Senior Bowl: now whilst I never usually rely on out of game tape the only example I have of him playing center was in the week down in Mobile and he flat out dominated with some seriously impressive reps. I highly recommend watching this film if you haven’t already because it is remarkable.

Negatives

• He can sometimes reach and lose balance when firing off too fast, he needs to be more patient on these looks.
• He sometimes loses form and slides onto a narrow shoulder block which is a negative gamble he doesn’t need to take.
• His lack of arm length shows up when he has to hold Edge defenders at full extension lock out to give the back a two way read, too often he was out leveraged although this shouldn’t be a problem if he kicks inside.
• As a center he still has plenty of things to improve on as he hasn’t worked out the timing involved in climbing on free releases and he missed key blocks at the second level.

Ryan’s Summary

Zabel’s tackle tape is very good but you can see all the tools he needs to move inside as his play style would be more fitting in tighter spaces plus he lacks the length to lock out Edge rushers. His senior bowl tape at center was outstanding and whilst it’s a small sample size it needs to be taken seriously given the IDL talent he faced and the skills he showed. He may take some time to get to where he needs to be from a game knowledge point of view but I’m betting he will be a stud there and his lack of elite competition means he could slide to a point the Chargers could take him on Day 2.