CARSON, Calif. — Only a handful of NFL Draft prospects can say they blocked for a quarterback who ended up being a first-round pick. Ryan Mack is undoubtedly the only one in the 2016 draft class who can say he blocked for two.
The only tackle in the NFL Draft who blocked for a pair of 1st-round quarterbacks
Ryan Mack blocked for both Teddy Bridgewater and Paxton Lynch during his collegiate career.
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Mack, 22, spent three years at Louisville, and was the starting right tackle during Teddy Bridgewater's final season with the program. After Charlie Strong left Louisville to become the head coach at Texas, Mack stuck around for one more year before transferring to Memphis, which was close to home. As a graduate senior, he started for the Tigers and helped protect Paxton Lynch, one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2016 NFL Draft.
“I was blessed, to say the least,” Mack said. “Two first rounders. I can’t ask for nothing else.”
He did well enough protecting Lynch, who finished the 2015 season with 28 touchdowns and four interceptions, to earn an invite to the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. In practices and in the game on Saturday, he pass protected for Utah’s Travis Wilson, Liberty’s Josh Woodrum and Northwestern State’s Stephen Rivers.
But none of those three players have come close to building their draft stock as high as Lynch did as a senior at Memphis. While Mack wouldn’t give a scouting report on the quarterback currently slated to the Los Angeles Rams in SB Nation’s latest mock draft, he had plenty of positive things to say about Lynch after only one year as his teammate.
“He’s a great person off the field,” Mack said. “Everyone knows what he can do on the field, but off the field he’s a great person. He’s a funny guy. I loved hanging out with him.”
While Lynch will have the next three months to prove he’s worthy of an early first round draft pick, like SB Nation’s Dan Kadar projects him to be in his latest mock draft, Mack spent the week in Southern California trying to prove to talent evaluators that he’s worth a pick at all.
It remains to be seen if he impressed NFL personnel enough during the week, but he did impress some of his teammates on the NFLPA Bowl’s American Team.
"He's a good player," San Diego State guard Darrell Greene said of Mack after the game on Saturday. "He's very mobile, and he's a strong kid. He picked up our plays quick so I enjoyed getting to know him this week, branching out and getting to play with other players like Ryan Mack. He's a good player."
With the NFLPA Bowl in the books, Mack will have a few more chances to show scouts his athleticism, but he’ll have no more opportunities to add to his game tape. But that’s not a bad thing after spending most of his collegiate career blocking for stars.
“It’s a win-win,” Mack said. “I make them look good, they make me look good. I can’t complain about that.”
Mack’s offensive line coach at the NFLPA Bowl was former Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Steve Hutchinson, who once earned seven consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl.
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