All-Twenty Tuesday: Bucs OL Alex Cappa

If you could give me one word to describe your perfect offensive lineman, what would it be?

Would it be “nasty?” Maybe “tough?” How about “strong” or just plain “physical?” Perhaps “imposing” would be a good one. Whatever word you come up with, there’s a good chance that word has been used to describe Bucs new offensive lineman Alex Cappa.

NFL Network’s Mike Mayock said that Cappa’s tape from Humboldt State was “the nastiest tape” he’s ever seen.

As you would expect from a guy coming from a D-II school, Cappa’s journey to the NFL has not been a highway with easy roads and a clear path to take. Cappa actually didn’t even play offensive line until his senior year in high school – he previously played defensive line. Due to his late position change, he wasn’t even recruited by any of the major schools.

When Cappa did get on to the campus of Humboldt State, however, it didn’t take him very long to start making his presence known. After redshirting in 2013, he became one of the most dominant players the Great Northwest Athletic Conference had ever seen. Cappa started every single game from 2014 to 2017. He was a First Team All-GNAC selection for all four years, and as his career began to blossom, he began to pick up national recognition, as well.

As a junior, he was awarded All-American honors, and as a senior he was a finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award, which is awarded to the best lineman, offensive or defensive, in NCAA Division II college football. Cappa was named the GNAC Offensive Lineman of the Year in all four years of his playing career. That’s right, you read that correctly; all four years.

So let’s get into Cappa’s tape and figure out for ourselves what the Bucs might be getting early on, what learning curve might be coming from such a small school player and where he might ultimately end up along the offensive line.

Man, if you want to talk about a finisher of an offensive lineman, Cappa (No. 71) is your guy. I get that it’s against lower level competition, but the thing you want to look for when watching lower-level tape is dominance (it’s why I was such a big fan of Fort Hays State DT Nathan Shepherd, as well.) Cappa absolutely dominates.

Cappa has a knack for getting to the second level. Sometimes that’s by design, but other times it means you’ve blocked your first assignment so well that you’re ready to move on to the next challenge. That’s often the case with Cappa, and was the case in the clip above.

Cappa can definitely be a bully, at times.

“To me, that’s just how you play football,” Cappa said. “People describe it as a mean streak but it’s not like I’m trying to be mean. There are different rules out there on the football field than there are in normal life.”

If he gets his hands on you, there’s a high likelihood that you’re not going to get free from his grasp, especially if he out-weighs you like in the clip above. Plays probably won’t happen in the NFL like it did there, but having a “finisher” mentality is always a good thing.

One thing I noticed about Cappa’s tape beyond just the sheer dominance with strength is how quickly he fires off the ball.

Watch in the clip above how quickly Cappa gets from his stance to not only into the defender but also into him with control and balance to get him out of the play. A common theme among offensive lineman with the kind of finishing power Cappa has is that they usually give up athleticism for their overpowering strength, but Cappa doesn’t seem to. Cappa really seems like a natural for a guy in a big body. That’s something I didn’t expect to see in his tape, but something that definitely stood out. That could be a big reason why the team believes he can play multiple positions.

Another reason why the team believes Cappa can play a variety of positions along the offensive line is because of how smart of a blocker he is. Blocking in the NFL isn’t just, “Arg, I’m a big guy and I’m going to run into you! Arg!” There’s a lot more to it than that.

Take the play above, for example. In it, Cappa was asked to go from one side of the defensive lineman to the other on a reach block and still seal the running lane to the completely opposite side. That meant he not only had to beat his defender off the ball, but also get on the complete opposite side of him with balance and control. That doesn’t happen unless you really know what you’re doing. He didn’t blissfully run block forward and push the defender towards where the ball was going. Cappa knew better, got in the correct position and pushed his assignment away instead.

The play above is another example of that. In it, Cappa initially started blocking to one side and immediately flipped to the other once he knew where he had help and where he didn’t. Cappa is not only pretty technically sound with his strength and his hands, but also has a good grasp of chemistry with where immanent danger is relative to where he knows the ball carrier behind him might be going. It’s that kind of stuff that makes you think he can be a suitable guard or tackle — right now the team has him as a guard.

In high school, Cappa was actually interested in drama and improv, which kind of all makes sense knowing how he plays on the football field and how he is off the field. Off the field, he seems like  pretty even keeled guy, but on the field it’s different. In that sense, he does play multiple roles, and there is definitely an element of improvisation when it comes to having chemistry along the offensive line. To be good at drama and improv, you have to be good on your feet. Cappa is, both mentally and physically.

Of course, it’s not all bulldozing and bullying. There is a pass blocking element to Cappa’s game that we have to examine, but from what we’ve already discussed you can imagine that he does it pretty well.

Cappa’s ability to play the snap well, move quickly and have functional strength allows him to be a good pass blocker, but then his awareness to pick up blitzes is what put him over the top. The play above shows a good example of him having chemistry in the pass blocking game like he did in the run blocking game. Noticing which player is going to be the biggest threat to the pocket and neutralizing it is a skill and Cappa has it.

Cappa also shows the ability to be patient as a pass blocker. As you can see in the clip above, the incoming rush is kind of just flailing around, failing to have an immediate plan. Cappa doesn’t fall for the false movement at the beginning of his rush, and because of that he was able to catch him in a vulnerable balance and throw him right off. That’s the look a very experienced offensive lineman right there.

Cory White, the offensive line coach at Humboldt, said Cappa “is not someone who’s a raving lunatic one moment and then walks out of the locker room with a totally different personality… he’s very much a cerebral player with the ability to be aggressive and apply it in the right situations.”

I think that’s a pretty good way to describe him. You’re going to hear a lot about the nastiness of Cappa’s game, and you definitely need that as an offensive lineman in the NFL, but don’t think he’s just a big dumb powerhouse lineman. Cappa isn’t just a giant, he’s an assassin and he’s calculated.

There will be a learning curve for him as he brings all of his skills up to NFL level. But, from what I’ve seen in his tape, I have faith that he can put it all together.