Caleb Lomu is a technician in pass protection whose broad skillset and requisite athleticism make him a relatively safe bet as a blindside protector in the NFL. 

​

Lomu is a former 4-star recruit and top 150 recruit in the 2023 recruiting class, choosing Utah over Michigan, USC, California, Florida, and others. Lomu redshirted his freshman season with the Utes, but quickly earned the starting left tackle job as a redshirt freshman, becoming a stalwart on the Utah offensive line and eventually earning first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2025 before declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft.

​

The name of Lomu's game is technical polish. He sports a broad range of techniques that allowed him to neutralize a majority of the rushers he faced in the Big 12. His snatch trap is the best in the class, and he used it in the Texas Tech game to neutralize David Bailey on one of their reps matched up 1v1. Lomu has great flexibility, and his lower-half movement is extraordinarily polished and coordinated for such a young player, allowing him to recover at a remarkably high percentage. While light in the lower half, Lomu has the wherewithal to stymie speed-to-power with active, heavy hands and an upper/lower-half synergy that is rare for someone his age. Against speed rushers, he has the mobility to adjust his set points to broaden the rusher's arc and take them out of the play. Overall, Lomu's advanced polish as a pass protector has practically made up for his physical question marks, whether that be his average play strength or less-than-ideal arm length. 

​

Lomu had his roughest game against Texas Tech, where he had to face David Bailey and Romello Height, both of whom are likely to be drafted top 75 or higher in the 2026 NFL Draft. Lomu held his own against David Bailey in limited reps, but Height beat him to the inside twice--once with an inside spin and another time with an inside rip. We discussed Lomu's excellent lateral fluidity that allows him to mirror and cut off inside moves against speed rushers, but his slight tendency to overset in an effort to protect the outside track was really exposed against a rusher with such strong inside counters. In confluence with this is his suboptimal arm length--Lomu's arms are somewhere in the 33-34" range, just below what is considered "ideal" in the NFL. This creates issues when he has to recover and counter rushers with elite speed (like Height) who get the jump on him, whether that's on the inside or outside track. While Height ultimately won the day, there were a handful of examples where Lomu adapted on the fly and countered Height well. It's worth noting that Height is a FAR more experienced player who emptied his deep pass rush bag to earn his wins, and Lomu never lost to the same move more than once.

​

Lomu is unlikely to ever be considered a "mauler" in the run game due to his average play strength and lack of leg drive to reset the LOS. This doesn't mean Lomu is useless in the run game, however. His movement skills include remarkable flexibility and strain to reach and seal defenders in multiple gaps. This expands beyond the LOS as well--Lomu takes good angles as a puller and to second-level defenders and has no problem gathering and neutralizing moving targets. His thin lower half caps his ceiling, as he's unlikely to generate much displacement on gap scheme runs. 

​

Caleb Lomu has advanced technical polish and great athleticism, indicating he can be a plug-and-play starter at left tackle in the NFL. Some teams may think he needs a year or two on the bench to fill out his frame, but I think his polish as a pass protector will afford him some answers against NFL speed-to-power from day one (even if there is room to develop). Lomu is best suited for an offense with a run scheme that emphasizes wide zone concepts where his mobility and flexibility can shine. I'd like to see Lomu land with a team where he is both a scheme fit and can make an immediate impact, like the Browns, Steelers, or Bears, or even the Falcons/49ers (though it seems Jake Matthews and Trent Williams will play forever at this rate). 

​

Grade: late 1st round

Archetype: Polished Pass Protector

High-End Pro Comparison: Jake Matthews

Low-End Pro Comparison: Luke Joeckel