Can KT Leveston’s versatility win a role on the Rams offensive line?

On film, he appears to be a good fit for the L.A. run scheme

Kaitori “KT” Leveston was selected by the Los Angeles Rams at #254 of Round 7 out of Kansas State in the 2024 NFL Draft. He primarily played left tackle during his Wildcat days, and was able to flash his versatility with snaps at all four tackle/guard roles. He was also a standout during workouts at the East-West Shrine Bowl and extended that versatility with solid work at center.

An older prospect ( 25 in October), he was a regular member on Big12 All-Academic teams, graduated before his final year, and is working towards his Masters degree. Leveston began as a redshirt back in 2018 and went on to play in 50 college games and 2200+ snaps. He earned 32 starts, with 27 straight over his final two seasons. For his career, he allowed 36 hurries, seven hits, and eight sacks of his quarterback. He played clean, committing only one penalty over his final 1800+ snaps.

Athletic testing

I use a chart by Gil Brandt when comparing prospect’s athletic testing. It’s a few years old now, but gives a standardized list of target numbers to look for. Leveston is not considered a plus athlete, but does run very close to hitting target athletic parameters for his position and size. I would rate his athleticism adequate, certainly on par with all members of the Rams current starting five.

Brandt’s target number are in bold.

Leveston earned an invitation to test and workout at the 2024 NFL Combine. He measured in at 6’ 3 7/8” 326 lb., with 9 7/8” hands, 34 3/8” arms, and 82 1/4” wingspan. He timed 5.38/5.30 in the forty, with a 1.85/1.85 split. In the explosion and lower/upper body strength drills he taped a 27.5”/30” vertical, 9’/8’ 6” broad, and 25/24 reps on the bench. For agility, change of direction, and balance, he logged a 7.90/7.85 3cone and 4.89/4.65 shuttle.

What does the film show?

Squared-off monolithic build. Coaches say Leveston has worked hard to re-shape his body over his college years and he could still use work in that area. He’s a downhill player with a rough-and-tumble style of play. He hustles downfield and plays hard to the whistle. Has good length and strong hands, just needs to take better advantage of them.

His strength is run blocking. He shows the striking power and push to crumble defenders on down and drive blocks, Can get better in this area with work on consistently getting his pad level lower to complement a natural low center of gravity. Leveston has fairly nifty feet, works hard to make reach blocks, and really clamps on to seal. Good strength to torque defenders out of the action. He pulls adequately, but much better if he doesn’t have to go along way laterally, and kicks out well, very sticky. Although he looks smooth working off double teams and up to the next level, his change of direction (or lack) make linear strikes his best moves.

In pass protection, it’s a more of a mixed bag. When Leveston strikes quickly and clamps on, he easily controls rushers, but too often, he’s not aggressive with his punch and hits high and outside. He just doesn’t have the lateral agility or reaction time to mirror speed and/or reaction time to recover from outside speed or quick inside counters if beaten at the get-go or the defender slides by. He’s aware on twists/loops, but again, he struggles if he has to go too far.

He sets a wide base and has a stellar anchor. Leveston needs to trust his base, anchor, and footwork, when he reaches and gets out of balance, he is limiting his best attributes, power and strength. In the college game, his girth and wingspan were enough to force speed to go the long way around, but pro rushers will have the bend to navigate around his edge.

Is there a pathway up the depth chart?

To snare the OL#6 role as swing guard/tackle and a chance to be a valuable contributor, Leveston would have to take a big jump, over incumbent Joseph Noteboom and large cast of vastly different competitors. Projecting the competition could be construed as bad news for Rams fan, but good for Leveston.

Noteboom, Warren McClendon, Zachary Thomas, AJ Arcuri, and Logan Bruss all return as guard/tackle candidates, while Blake Larson joins as a UDFA. On the interior, Mike McAllister, rookies Beaux Limmer and Justin Dedich bring center/guard versatility and Grant Miller plugs in at guard. After Noteboom, the 10 remaining candidates have very little NFL experience with 138 pro snaps amongst them.

Final analysis

So, what should we make of KT Leveston?

He’s a very good fit into the Rams run scheme, a downhill mauler with a wide body. His athleticism, although not stellar, is certainly on par with L.A.’s current starting group and he does have fairly nifty feet. Moving him to a role inside at guard would likely go a long way to alleviate some of his trials and tribulations in space.

Leveston’s college coaches lauded his year-to-year growth in maturity and work ethic, incrementally reshaping his body, improving his technique, and becoming a team leader. He has a strong base skillset, good film vs. top competition and had a productive college career, just needs to work on leverage/pad level, technique polish, and transitioning to pro speed. If Leveston continues to craft his game and transitions to the pro game, he has a good shot to win the first lineman off the bench role as the swing guard/tackle. That said, it may be more realistic to project hid ascension for 2025.