Old Dominion Football

HEIGHT: 6'7"

WEIGHT: 255

HAND: 10 1/4"

ARM: 34"

WINGSPAN: N/A

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40-YARD DASH: 4.55

3-CONE: 6.87

SHUTTLE: 4.12

VERTICAL: 40"

BROAD: 10'8"

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POSITIVES

— Ideal build for the position, which helps make him a worthwhile developmental prospect.

— Great acceleration and speed. Can be a threat beyond 15 yards.

— Very good agility and mobility. Shows quick feet and smooth change of direction.

— Flashes of snappy route-running and the ability to separate.

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NEGATIVES

— Poor ability to work through contact during routes. Gets hit and loses momentum.

— Poor ability to play the ball in the air. Struggles to time jumps and fight through contact at the catch point.

— Poor blocker. Often approaches blocks with hesitance. Play strength is subpar.

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2023 STATISTICS

— 5 G, 12 REC, 144 YDS (12.0 AVG), 2 TD

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NOTES

— DOB: June 6, 1999

— 4-star recruit in Penn State's 2018 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings

— Transferred to Old Dominion in 2021

— 15 career starts (all at Old Dominion)

— 2021 first-team All-Conference USA

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OVERALL

Zach Kuntz is a Day 3 home run swing on athletic traits and potential, but he has a long, long way to go before he'll be ready to play in the NFL.

Athletically, Kuntz is rare. At 6'7" and 255 pounds, he has some of the best acceleration and speed in the class. He jolts off the line of scrimmage and can fly past defenders in a hurry when running routes such as seams, crossers and corners.

Kuntz is also a sick athlete when it comes to change of direction. He plays with fast, controlled footwork and the ability to smoothly drop his hips to explode out of route breaks. When given a bit of space to operate, Kuntz has all the tools to be a separator.

With that being said, athleticism is about all Kuntz has right now. His play versus contact is a concern. As a route-runner, Kuntz struggles to maneuver press at the line, and he shows a poor understanding of how to use his body to push off and fight for positioning later on in routes. As a result, he often loses his momentum and remains covered.

Additionally, Kuntz doesn't play to his size when it comes to contested scenarios. He often misjudges the ball in the air and doesn't appear comfortable fighting through contact to go up for the ball.

Blocking is a struggle for Kuntz right now, too. He has the size to do it, but he often plays hesitant and doesn't appear to play with good strength. Kuntz is not ready to be an in-line blocker or a movable blocker in space at this stage. He will need a few years to iron out his technique and add strength.

Kuntz is an uber-talented dice roll on a wide receiver/tight end hybrid type. He has all of the size and athletic talent in the world; he just needs a lot of work as a technician and in regard to play strength. The hope is that NFL coaching, as well as a pro strength and conditioning system, can get Kuntz to unlock his potential and become a passing-game weapon.

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GRADE: 6.4 (High-Level Developmental Prospect/Round 5)

OVERALL RANK: 157

POSITION RANK: TE10

PRO COMPARISON: Logan Thomas

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Derrik Klassen

HEIGHT: 6'6"

WEIGHT: 318

HAND: 10¼"

ARM: 33¼"

WINGSPAN: TBD

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40-YARD DASH: 5.21

3-CONE: TBD

SHUTTLE: 4.69

VERTICAL: 31"

BROAD: 9'3"

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POSITIVES

— Good athletic ability, lateral quickness and recovery balance.

— Skilled pass protector with the discipline to stay square and inside-out and to redirect to cut off inside counters; shows the range to reach his landmarks against high-side rushes.

— Does a very good job of taking away his hands at the last second to disrupt the timing of rushers and leave them without anything to work off.

— Smoothly transitions into his anchor with good lower-half mobility and bend to get under the bull rush.

— Has some jolt in his hands to cave in adjacent rushers when uncovered and when bumping and feeding on combo blocks.

— Loose hips and quick feet out of his stance to reach his landmarks in the zone run game.

— Easy mover on pulls and screens with the awareness to locate the most dangerous threat.

— Adept at picking up and passing off basic line games and stunts with proper depth, spacing and timing.

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NEGATIVES

— Base can get too wide on drive blocks, leaving him vulnerable to getting overextended against the push-pull technique.

— Gap exchanges and post-snap movement across his face slows him down, leaving him late to pick up secondary threats.

— Anchor technique is sound but not always immediate, leading to some initial push.

— Average length can lead to defenders establishing first meaningful contact and quickly slipping away from his grasp.

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2023 STATISTICS

— 11 starts: 10 at RT and one at RG

— Team captain

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NOTES

— 2018 2-star offensive tackle recruit out of Parkwood High School in Monroe, North Carolina, per 247Sports

— 35 career starts: 34 at right tackle and one at right guard

— Invited to the Reese's Senior Bowl

— Trained under Duke Manyweather leading up to the Senior Bowl and combine

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OVERALL

Nick Saldiveri was a three-year starter at right tackle. He made 10 starts at the spot last year with one at right guard inside Old Dominion's approximately 58-42 pass-run split, multiple-run scheme based on split-flow zone runs, power and counter. He has a tall, well-proportioned frame, average arm length and good athletic ability.

The former Monarch shows the initial and lateral quickness out of his stance to reach his landmarks in the zone run game, cut off the back side, widen and laterally displace defenders on angle-drive blocks. He is an athletic mover with the agility needed to climb and intersect second- and third-level targets on the move on screens.

He also shows jolt in his hands to dent and feed first-level targets over as the drive-man on double-teams. Saldiveri's base does tend to widen when giving up the first meaningful contact on drive blocks, leaving him vulnerable to getting overextended by the push-pull technique, and fast-flow backers can evade his grasp and scrape on double-team climbs.

He is an adept, skilled pass protector who does a very good job of staying square in his pass sets until the last possible moment while staying inside-out on the rusher. He has light, proactive hands that he uses to bait and disrupt the timing of speed-rushers before taking them away and leaving them without anything to work off.

Since he is usually in optimal position leading up to contact, he is in a good position to transition to his anchor and does so methodically. While he is often under the bull rush fighting pressure with pressure, the long-arm technique can gain quick access into his frame and walk him back two to three yards before movement ceases.

Saldiveri provides a physical presence when uncovered to cave in adjacent rushers, and he proficiently picks up and passes off line games and stunts with proper spacing, timing and depth.

Overall, he is a skilled, technically refined pass protector at tackle with the movement skills to be an asset in the zone run game and be serviceable on downhill, gap concepts. He showed enough in limited snaps on film and at the Senior Bowl at guard to offer inside-out versatility and will be a high-quality backup or potential starting right tackle right away.

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GRADE: 7.3 (High-level backup/potential starter - Round 3)

OVERALL RANK: 65

POSITION RANK: OT6

PRO COMPARISON: Doug Free

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Brandon Thorn

Old Dominion quarterback Blake LaRussa will leave the program a year early to attend seminary school, according to ESPN.

The former walk-on will graduate in the spring, although he had one more year of eligibility remaining. He explained his decision in a statement:

"It has been an incredible journey with Old Dominion football, but I would like to announce that I will be moving on from football after I graduate this spring and will be going into full-time ministry. This fall (2019) I will be going to seminary school to start my Master's of divinity. I am so grateful for all my coaches and teammates who I have grown so close with these past four years."

LaRussa earned his largest share of playing time this season, finishing the year with 3,015 passing yards and 19 touchdowns. He most notably threw 495 passing yards and four touchdowns off the bench in an upset win over Virginia Tech before keeping the job the rest of the season.

He helped the team win three of its last five games after a 1-6 start to the year.

It appears he has thrown his last collegiate pass, however, as he prepares to move on to the next phase of his life.

Playing in their first season as an FBS independent, the Old Dominion Monarchs have posted a respectable 6-3 record.

But that record does not come without major caveats. And the Monarchs hope to change the most major of those—a winless record against FBS competition—Saturday against fellow independent Idaho Vandals.

Old Dominion's wins—in which it has averaged an impressive 52.5 points per game—have all come against FCS opponents, and five of the six have been at home. Their three losses have been in their only three challenges of FBS opponents—defeats on the road to East Carolina, Maryland and Pittsburgh.

But a 47-10 blowout loss to the Terrapins aside, the Monarchs have been competitive in their setbacks. Their season opener, at East Carolina on Aug. 31, saw them trailing just 35-31 through three quarters before losing 52-38. And more recently, on Oct. 19 at Heinz Field against Pittsburgh, they trailed again by just four heading into the fourth quarter, eventually falling by 11, 35-24.

The transition to FBS status for Old Dominion is even more impressive when considering the team didn't even exist at all as recently as the 2008 season. After posting a 9-2 record as an FCS independent in its inaugural season of 2009—the best record for a first-year program in college football's modern era—Old Dominion followed up with records of 8-3, 10-3 and 11-2 in the next three years.

Under head coach Bobby Wilder since their inception, the Monarchs have been no slouch. This year's explosive offense is headed up by junior quarterback Taylor Heinicke, who won the Walter Payton Award in 2012 as the top offensive player in the Championship Subdivision—only the second sophomore ever to receive the honor.

So far this year, Heinicke has completed 71.1 percent of his passes for more than 3,000 yards, with 25 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. In his three games against FBS competition, he has gone 87-137 for 816 yards, with five touchdowns and four interceptions.

This week's battle with the 1-8 Idaho Vandals marks the Monarchs' best chance to get their first FBS win under their belts. (They'll play one more FBS opponent, North Carolina, on Nov. 23.)

While ODU will have to travel all the way across the country to face the Vandals, the team they'll meet is a very vulnerable one. Idaho ranks 123rd in FBS in points allowed per game at 44.2, which does not bode well as they prepare to face the Monarchs' explosive offense. Their lone win of the season was at home against another team that had to travel cross-country, a very bad Temple team, and they held off a late Owls rally for just a two-point win that day.

Old Dominion will be looking to make a name for itself in a weak Conference USA beginning next season. They are a team on the rise.

Idaho, meanwhile, has been wandering from conference to conference since returning to FBS in the mid-90s and needed special permission to stay at Division I's top level as an independent in 2013 when they were left off the realignment carousel.

These are teams headed in opposite directions.

When they cross Saturday, Old Dominion could very well be leaving the Land of Potatoes with a milestone victory.

PREDICTION: Old Dominion 41, Idaho 31