STRENGTHS - Long and linear, Fragel is in good shape for a 300+ pounder, although he will need to add weight and improve his playing strength in time. A former tight end, Fragel's foot quickness and athleticism shows in his ability to get out of stance and slide out to corner in time to cut-off speed rusher. While he needs to be more consistent blocking with base, he has shown the flexibility to bend knees and sink hips to block (Both run and pass blocks) with good base/leverage when he focuses on technique. While he lacks the really long arms that NFL teams prefer in a tackle, he has long enough arms and shows the ability to get them on pass rusher quickly. His athleticism helps him to get through to the second level quickly and to stay over feet to maintain blocks on linebackers once there. He has the playing speed to pull and get outside to lead block effectively on outside runs. More than anything, Fragel's combination of height, size and athleticism makes him a very intriguing OT prospect.
WEAKNESSES - Still raw and developing as an OT after switching from TE during spring practice in 2012. Despite all the talent to block with leverage and block effectively out in space, Fragel is not as consistent doing those things as he is capable of and will need to continue to work in these areas to become more than a project player. Most concerning is that despite weighing over 300 pounds, Fragel lacks good playing strength. He does not deliver a hard, violent punch to slow pass rusher and can be jolted and driven backwards by aggressive pass rushers too easily. His lack of experience shows in his inability to re-set and anchor consistently after being jolted backwards initially. While he is quick off the ball to make contact with DL on in-line run blocks, he lacks hip snap and power on contact as he is more of a positional run blocker. He lacks the strength to get movement consistently on in-line run blocks and when he tries to seal block man he can jolted backwards by powerful defensive linemen.
SUMMARY - An intriguing OT prospect, Fragel joins a group of OT's like Lane Johnson and Menelik Watson who are new to playing the position (For Watson this also includes being new to playing football), but have the athleticism to make them sought after developmental prospects. Although he is not the elite, rare athlete of those other two, Fragel is definitely a good enough athlete for an OT to handle playing left tackle at the NFL level. Overall, I doubt that Fragel will be drafted on the first two days of the Draft, but I believe that early in the fourth round a team will take a gamble on his because he has the upside and potential to become a quality starting left tackle. He will need to greatly improve his use of hands, crank up his aggressiveness as a blocker and most importantly play stronger and more physically to become a high end starter.