NFL Draft Truth or Hype: Iowa OL Brandon Scherff

We'll take a daily look at some of the most talked about prospects in the 2015 NFL Draft and tell you whether they're worth the hype or not.

The first offensive lineman we'll review is Iowa's Brandon Scherff, who by many accounts is the "safe pick" in this year's draft.

Pro tip: There is no such thing as a safe pick in the NFL Draft.

For some reason, there's always an offensive lineman that receives this label in a lazy attempt for those that actually don't want to analyze the position.

Anyway, Scherff is regarded as the top offensive lineman in this draft and could be off the board early in the first round. He's listed at 6-5, 319 pounds with an arm length just over 33 inches.

By the Numbers:

Redshirt Freshman: Appeared in 11 games at left guard with three starts

Redshirt Junior: Started all 13 games at left tackle

Redshirt Senior: Started all 13 games at left tackle

Scherff made the switch to left tackle during the spring of his redshirt sophomore season, and he started in every game during his last two seasons. He was the Outland Trophy winner, given to the nation's best interior lineman, and named first-team All-America last year.

NFL Combine/Pro Day results:

40-yard dash: 5.05 seconds

Vertical: 32.5 inches

Broad jump: 8 feet, 11 inches

Scherff only participated in the 40-yard dash and the bench press at the NFL Combine. His 40-yard dash time was the fourth fastest among offensive linemen, while Scherff didn't crack the top 10 on the bench press. He measured his vertical and broad jump at Iowa's pro day.

The Film

It's difficult to judge an offensive lineman through stats or any sort of combine measurements. There aren't stats that can measure an offensive lineman's production efficiently, and I don't think a team will need to see Scherff run 40 yards down the field at any point in his career.

Scherff is athletic, but he struggled with his balance or never squared up at times when moving on his run blocks. It just appeared in some of those instances Scherff grazed the defender when you expected a nice, clean block.

My biggest concern is against the pass, where Scherff will need to improve in the NFL. Iowa is a team that relied on the run, but Scherff had a difficult time protecting the quarterback. He's not as aggressive as you'd expect someone of his size to be in protection.

There's a debate on whether Scherff is an offensive tackle or a guard in the NFL. He appears to be a guard, and I think people are trying to say he's a tackle to justify such high praise. Scherff will be a solid guard that can produce against the run.

Everyone calls Scherff the safe pick, but it's a little risky drafting a guard that high. I just find it hard to pick an offensive guard that high in the first round when you can find some value in Day 2, such as Duke's Laken Tomlinson or Hobart's Ali Marpet, that could even turn out better than Scherff.