The War Room: Fred Weary, OL 
Fred Weary
Position: Offensive Lineman
Drafted: Round 3, #66 overall
Height: 6’4"
Weight: 308
College: Tennessee
Birthday: September 30, 1977
NFL Comparison: Steve McKinney
Strengths: Fred Weary’s a versatile lineman who can play guard or center on the NFL level, with guard likely being his area of strength.
Weary is a hard-working, fundamentally sound lineman who’s very competitive and extremely easy to coach. He began life in Knoxville as a defensive tackle and has used that experience to his advantage — he has wonderful instincts and last year, he did not allow a sack.
Extremely strong and powerful at the point of attack, Weary uses his upper body strength to drive his man off the line of scrimmage. He’s not fast, but has good explosion off the ball and fills spaces along the line well; Weary is very difficult to get around and even harder to push — he gives up ground begrudgingly.
As a Volunteer, he’s played right tackle, center and guard, earning first team All-SEC honors in 2001. And at 25, his maturity has made him a natural leader on and off the field.
Areas of concern: Weary’s stiff and not much of an athlete; he’s also not explosively fast, and can get beat with a swift first move. Scouts have also noticed a lack of that nasty, down and dirty attitude they like to see in their interior lineman — some have termed his blocking as "finesse."
Of more concern, he’s had ankle surgery twice, and that could hurt his leverage and mobility down the road. It’s also, of course, cut into his playing time and development.
2002 Expectations: Several scouts think Weary would have been a high pick had he been more healthy throughout his career. At the Senior Bowl in January, he impressed everybody with his physique and upper body strength (34 reps of 225). And playing in the SEC, he’s gone against, and contained, some of the best players in the country, not to mention, he practiced everyday against 2002 first round picks John Henderson and Albert Haynesworth, so he’s ready to play in the NFL right now.
He joins an interior line that’s young and deep, and should push Matt Campbell or Jeremy McKinney at guard this summer. Expect steady, but unspectacular play; perhaps much, much more if he can improve upon his tendency to finesse opponents.
Fred Weary has a great upside, if healthy. David Carr’s living a dream…
Fred Weary 
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