ANALYSIS
Positives: Compactly built, with a thick neck, chest, shoulders and body frame that would be ideal in a 3-4 defensive alignment … Mature leader who has the sudden burst off the snap to quickly gain advantage … Holds his ground firmly vs. the trap blocks and double teams … Shows good second effort in pursuit … Has the functional strength needed to stop the ball carrier at the line of scrimmage … Uses his hands effectively to disengage when bull rushing … Has the short burst and extra surge needed to close on the quarterback … Has the lateral agility to step up and slip past blocks … Gets his hands up quickly to block the passer's vision at the line … Stays on his feet working through trash and shows a strong burst on the pass rush … Delivers a strong hand punch to prevent blockers from getting into his chest … Explodes through blocks and is very effective creating havoc coming off the edge.
Negatives: Has good power in his lower body (despite being knock-kneed), but runs upright and lacks the change of direction agility in pursuit (more suited for a straight-ahead charge) … Late to react coming off the snap, showing only adequate ability to locate the ball instantly … Has the arm strength, but will struggle to break through the containment as he has problems with his rip-and-swim moves working when trying to disengage (keeps his arms too close to the body rather than extending to jolt) … Does not have the suddenness to adjust on the move, needing to restart in order to get back to the play when he overpursues … More comfortable diagnosing pass plays, as he is very slow to locate the ball carrier when moving inline … Better playing in the box, as he tends to miss too many tackles working in space … His lack of lateral agility and size will see him move from college defensive end to tackle.