O’Cyrus Torrence and Billy Napier arranged a phone call for the same day each week to discuss joining forces at the University of Louisiana.
Their timing had to be precise. The wireless phone service at the home of Torrence’s grandmother in Greenburg (pop. 718) was spotty at best in the bayou.
To say Torrence came from nowhere to become a potential first-round NFL draft pick is no exaggeration.
“He’d go to that one corner of his house where he had cell phone service and would pick up the phone at a certain time every Thursday night,” Napier recalled March 30 at the Gators’ Pro Day.
The extra effort was worth it.
A raw talent and lightly recruited, the massive Torrence rapidly developed into the offensive line’s anchor. Napier, coming off a 7-7 debut season in 2018 as a head coach, built the Ragin’ Cajuns’ power running game behind him.
When Napier left for Florida after their third season together, Torrence followed him to Gainesville, where he became a consensus 2022 All-American. With more than college 3,000 snaps to his credit, Torrence is one of the few plug-and-play interior lineman available when the draft begins Thursday night.
“I’m coming in ready to start, ready to compete from Day One,” he said at Pro Day.
Torrence’s track record backs him up.
Beginning as a true freshman in 2019, he appeared in 48 games, all but the first one as a starter. During Torrence’s three seasons in Lafayette, Napier’s run games ranked sixth, 21st and 31st. The 2022 Gators’ rushing offense was 24th nationally.
More impressively, Torrence was never assessed a sack, though he does recall — with a degree of frustration — the one close call that ended with a quarterback hit on Levi Lewis.
“It was my junior year at UL,” Torrence said. “The quarterback threw the ball, but there was pressure in his face, and they hit him right before he threw it. I thought it actually was a sack until it came up as a hit on the stat sheet. It made me feel a little bit better, but it still didn’t change the fact that I gave up a hit.
“That still hurt me a little bit.”
Torrence, 23, is usually the one inflicting pain or healthy dose of humility to those lined up across from him.
Standing 6-foot-5, 330 pounds with an wingspan of nearly seven feet (83 7/8 inches) and 11 1/4 inch hands, Torrence is a mountain of man also blessed with nimble feet along with the flexibility to get leverage and balance to maintain it.
“Very dependable, very consistent, tough, durable and some freaky, freaky physical traits,” Napier said.
Torrence’s measurables at the NFL Scouting Combine, including a pedestrian 23 repetitions with 225 pounds, were not off the charts like those of quarterback Anthony Richardson. Unlike the Gators’ 2022 signal-caller, Torrence put his best work on game film.
Mock drafts project teams will select him during the late first or early second round, a range based on his position more than his production. Guards are down the list of priorities, but there are exceptions.
Just 11 guards were drafted during the past 10 drafts, six of them inside the top 20.
Having dropped at least 15 pounds since last season and improved his quickness, Torrence said he can line up anywhere along the offensive line.
“I’ve played left guard, right guard and right tackle in games. I’ve practiced center,” he said. “I feel like I have a lot of opportunity for where my team needs me.”
Yet, longtime draft analyst Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network pigeon-holes Torrence at guard.
“Torrence is specifically a power-gap blocker — you’re not going to use him in a zone gap where he can move around,” Pauline said. “I’d say it’s a slim chance he gets into the first round, [but] not out of the question.”
Wherever Torrence end ups will be a long away from home.
The hamlet of Greenburg in St. Helena Parish is one of the oldest towns in Louisiana and one of its most remote. There, Torrence shared a trailer with his mother, grandmother and three siblings.
Tight quarters became event tighter as Torrence ballooned to more than 400 pounds as an eighth-grader. Football would become his salvation and eventually his meal ticket.
Though Torrence ranked outside the nation’s top 1,500 prospects in the 2019 class, Napier discovered him early just more than 100 miles northeast of Lafayette. He established a bond before other schools could swoop in as Torrence’s potential became evident.
“Thank goodness for the early signing period,” Napier said.
Torrence will give thanks himself when he’s selected during the NFL draft. Unlike those recruiting calls with Napier, he is sure to hear his name loud and clearly.
But on the biggest night of his football career, Torrence will be the first to say he didn’t do it alone.
“I know I wouldn’t have made it here without where I came from so the journey and everybody who helped me get to this point, I can’t thank them enough,” he said. “I had people helping me, pushing me, giving me motivation on days when I may have wanted to take the easy way out. Having the right coaches around me, the right family and friends helped a lot.”
This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Edgar Thompson at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osgators.
()