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Colby Sorsdal Scouting Report | William & Mary OT | 2023 NFL Draft

Colby Sorsdal is a 6-foot-5, 305-pound Offensive Tackle prospect from The College of William & Mary.
Colby Sorsdal is a 6-foot-5, 305-pound Offensive Tackle prospect from The College of William & Mary.

Player Bio

Colby Sorsdal is a 6-foot-5, 305-pound Offensive Tackle prospect from The College of William & Mary.

Originally from Texas, Sorsdal moved to Pittsburgh, PA during grade school and began his football journey at Mt. Lebanon High School in 2014.

Sorsdal played two seasons of junior varsity football before leaping up to the varsity level as a junior. Sorsdal started at Right Tackle for Mt. Lebanon during his junior season and helped lead the Blue Devils to a WPIAL 6A 2 Conference Championship.

As Sorsdal grew into his own on the football field, college coaches took notice of his junior-year tape, and extended scholarship offers to the up-and-coming Right Tackle. Before his senior season, Sorsdal received offers from several Division I FBS programs, such as Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Kent State, UCONN, and UCF.

Sorsdal and Mt. Lebanon finished the 2017 season with a 6-5 record, which included an appearance in the first round of the WPIAL 6A playoffs. Sorsdal earned a First Team All-Conference selection and won Mt. Lebanon’s Mr. Football Award after the season. Sorsdal finished his high school career with 15 scholarship offers from FBS and FCS programs.

On October 22, 2017, Sorsdal pledged his commitment to William & Mary and would sign his letter of intent with the Tribe four months later on National Signing Day.

Leading up to the 2018 season, Sorsdal competed for the starting Right Tackle spot throughout fall camp. Sorsdal went on to win the starting job before the season,  becoming only the second true freshman offensive lineman in program history to start for the Tribe since 1983. Sorsdal started all ten games for William & Mary in a 4-6 campaign, which included an upset victory over the 16th-ranked Maine Black Bears.

Under the direction of new Head Coach Mike London and Offensive Coordinator Brennan Marion, Sorsdal entered the 2019 season as a key starter in the Tribe’s Go-Go offense – a system that emphasizes downhill run concepts out of unbalanced, two-back formations.

During the 2019 season, Sorsdal started all 12 games and earned the opportunity to showcase talents against two local FBS programs – Virginia and ECU. The Tribe dropped both games against their FBS opponents but finished the season with a 5-5 record against FCS competition.

William & Mary had its 2020 season canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic but returned to action in a shortened three-game season during the spring of 2021.Sorsdal started all three games at Right Tackle and earned a selection to the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll after the season. Sorsdal was granted a waiver by the NCAA to maintain a year of eligibility due to the 2020 season cancellation.

Sorsdal began the 2021 campaign as the Tribe’s starting Right Tackle for the fourth season in a row. Despite missing two games to injury, Sorsdal started ten games on an offensive line that ranked 16th in total rushing offense and 10th in fewest sacks allowed. The Tribe finished the year with a 6-5 record, and Sorsdal earned Third Team All-CAA honors for the first time in his career.

Sorsdal returned to William & Mary for his fifth and final collegiate season in 2022. Serving as an offensive co-captain and starting all 13 games at Right Tackle, Sorsdal anchored an offensive line that helped the Tribe rank third in total rushing offense and fourth in fewest sacks allowed. Behind one of the best offensive line units in the country, the Tribe accumulated an 11-2 record and won the CAA Conference Championship for the first time since 2015.

William & Mary finished the regular season ranked sixth in the FCS football rankings and earned a bye in the first round of the 2022 FCS playoffs. The Tribe dominated Gardner-Webb in the second round before falling to eventual FCS Championship runner-up Montana State in the Quarterfinals. Although the Tribe’s season ended disappointingly, Sorsdal earned AP First Team FCS All-American honors and First Team All-CAA recognition.

Sorsdal started in all 46 games he appeared in during his five-year stint at William & Mary. He spent the duration of his college career at Right Tackle

After wrapping up his collegiate career, Sorsdal played in the 2023 East-West Shrine Game, was selected in the sixth round of the 2023 USFL Draft by the Birmingham Stallions, and scheduled a pre-draft meeting with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Scouting Report

Colby Sorsdal is a Right Tackle with an intriguing athletic upside, high-level toughness, strong technique, and sharp mental instincts.

Sorsdal has exceptional initial foot and body quickness at the line of scrimmage, which allows him to beat defenders to a spot and establish a leverage advantage as soon as the ball is snapped. Complemented by an explosive lower half and fluid hip flexibility, Sorsdal fires out of his stance and unlocks his hips well to roll through defenders upon initial contact. Sorsdal is a highly-skilled in-line blocker who understands the importance of using angles to seal off defenders and open up running lanes for the offense. Sorsdal has consistent hat placement, which enables him to target a defender’s inside/outside shoulder to create opportunities for explosive plays in the run game. Sorsdal operates with a road grader’s mentality, providing him with the toughness, intensity, and mean streak necessary to be an impactful run-blocking tackle at the next level.

Sorsdal’s foot/body quickness is not only visible in the run game; Sorsdal possesses great short and long-range lateral mobility in his pass set, which forces defenders to think twice about running the arc when matched-up against him. Sorsdal also has a firm, wide base in his pass set, enabling him to anchor against the bull rush against powerful EDGE defenders. Additionally, Sorsdal’s 33-inch arms give him enough length to get his hands on pass rushers early and often. Sorsdal does have some deficiencies in his pass-blocking technique that could use some sharpening at the next level; He sometimes struggles to find consistency with his hand placement and does not always re-anchor efficiently after countering a defender’s initial move. Despite some flaws in his pass-blocking technique, Sorsdal is an intelligent, instinctual offensive tackle with great spatial awareness and the ability to adjust to stunts and twists from incoming pass rushers.

At 6-foot-5, 305 pounds, Sorsdal is slightly undersized from a weight perspective for the offensive tackle position. Although Sorsdal boasts impressive hip flexibility, his ankle/bend and arm length warrant some concerns about his overall leverage and ability to play the position at the highest level possible. On the bright side, Sorsdal physical measurements make him a prime candidate to slide over to the offensive guard position, providing him with some valuable position and scheme versatility.

Coming from an FCS program, some NFL scouts might knock Sorsdal for playing against lower-level competition compared to other offensive tackle prospects from FBS schools. However, Sorsdal is not your average FCS offensive lineman; He was a five-year starter for William & Mary who improved every year of his college career and established himself as an FCS All-American in his final year with the program. Sorsdal flew under the radar for too long during the draft process and should be selected in the middle rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Draft Projection

Early 4th-Mid 5th

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