[2023 NFL Draft/6-201] Jarrett Patterson, C/G, Notre Dame

8. JARRETT PATTERSON | Notre Dame 6051 | 306 lbs. | 5SR Laguna Hills, Calif. (Mission Viejo) 9/1/1999 (age 23.66)

BACKGROUND: Jarrett Patterson, who has an older brother, attended Mission Viejo High School (located midway between Los Angeles and San Diego). He was a four- year varsity letterman on the football team and played for legendary head coach Bob Johnson. Patterson helped the program to a 51-4 record over his prep career. He started primarily at right tackle as a sophomore and helped Mission Viejo to a 16-0 record and 2015 state championship. Patterson moved to left tackle as a junior and senior and led the program to a combined 23-2 record over his final two years. He earned back-to-back first team All-League and All-County honors and also earned first team All-State as a senior in 2017.

A four-star recruit, Patterson was the No. 25 offensive tackle in the 2018 recruiting class and the No. 45 recruit in California. He was the third-highest-ranked recruit for Mission Viejo in the 2018 class behind DB Olaijah Griffin (USC) and WR Austin Osborne (Washington). Patterson initially committed to Arizona State toward the end of his junior year, but reopened his recruitment six months later after head coach Todd Graham, offensive coordinator Billy Napier and offensive line coach Rob Sale were dismissed. He received almost 30 scholarship offers and strongly considered Michigan before narrowing his choice to Notre Dame and UCLA. He surprised his coaches when he chose the Irish over staying closer to home. His older brother (David) played offensive line at Fresno State (2013-17), which was the first program to offer Jarrett a scholarship. He accepted his invitation to the 2023 Senior Bowl.

STRENGTHS: Passes the eye test with his size and build ... delivers a heavy-handed strike to grapple and control his man ... his base blocks stay wide while still being able to reposition his feet to combat power ... adequate mirroring skills with the awareness to pass off stunts ... the mental mistakes and penalties declined substantially between his junior and senior seasons ... sees things quickly to process angles, speeds and moves ... two-time team captain and buys into coaching messages ... plays hurt and has a high threshold for pain ... logged double-digit starts at both guard and center.

WEAKNESSES: Short-armed blocker, which downgrades the pop in his hands when attempting to reach ... tight-hipped and doesn’t have the body control to smoothly recover ... sets tall and allows low rushers to out-leverage and drive him backward ... will misfire his hands and open his chest to defenders ... play strength is very average and he doesn’t blow defenders off the ball ... loses his balance too quickly versus long-armed linemen ... not a rangy player ... the injuries piled up over his career: missed final four games of his sophomore season (and 2021 spring practices) because of a Lisfranc fracture in his left foot that required surgery (November 2020); suffered a torn pectoral muscle in his left shoulder during offseason weight training (March 2022) and then a sprained right foot (August 2022), which forced him to miss the 2022 season opener (and play hurt in several other games); suffered a minor hip injury during Senior Bowl week (February 2023) and didn’t play in the game.

SUMMARY: A four-year starter at Notre Dame, Patterson played center and guard in former offensive coordinator Tommy Rees’ balanced scheme. A tackle-only in high school, he moved to center in South Bend before kicking out to left guard in 2022, when he learned under legendary NFL and college offensive line coach Harry Hiestand (his penalties dropped from 12 in 2021 to only three in 2022). A two-time team captain, Patterson does a nice job staying square with the active hands and awareness to keep defenders occupied. While his process is sound, he often loses balance after first contact or out in space. Overall, Patterson has alert eyes and strong, stubborn hands from contact to finish, but his lack of ideal length and athleticism showed on his college film and will be even more evident versus NFL competition. His guard-center experience will help his chances of earning an NFL reserve spot.

GRADE: 5th-6th Round