6’6” – 260 lbs. – 4.41
Weighed only 229 pounds as a freshman at Michigan St. back in 2014, appearing in two games before redshirting. Was suspended from the team for the 2015 season and into 2016, so ended up spending the latter year in junior college before transferring to Mississippi St. Had added twelve pounds by that point and enjoyed a highly-productive junior campaign in the starting lineup, totaling 48-15.5-10.5, and concluded his collegiate career with a similar senior campaign (51-13.5-11.0). Tall and a little bit thin, with an athletic but slightly narrow build. Played a lot of left end in college, working against opposing right tackles. Has very good functional strength for a player with his frame. Disciplined run defender who maintains outside position and likes to get physical with opposing tackles on the end of the line. Plays with the leverage and explosiveness to get under an opponent’s pads and reset the line of scrimmage more successfully than his size would indicate. Active hands with enough power to stack and shed in the run game; can ragdoll opposing linemen at times. Has suddenness in the short-area to get penetration on inside moves. Gives good effort to pursue to the sidelines, with enough athleticism to make tackles near the boundaries. Wide tackling radius by virtue of his length, with a good closing burst in pursuit. Relentless pass-rusher who mixes up his rushes and has advanced hand usage. Keeps opponents out of his pads and can slap their hands away or use swim/rip moves to create opportunities for himself. Gets up to speed quickly and can also threaten as an inside rusher on twists. A little bit linear as a speed-rusher; fast and explosive, but doesn’t always bend tightly enough, allowing opposing quarterbacks to climb the pocket. Will overrun the pocket and end up needing spin back to pursue. Mostly a speed/finesse rusher who doesn’t feature a bull rush very extensively. Despite his height/length, only batted one pass and forced just one fumble in college. Played with his hand in the dirt at the college level, making it difficult to evaluate his prospects as a potential 3-4 outside linebacker. Circumstances surrounding his suspension and transfer will require further investigation. A little bit unorthodox physically and not quite a complete pass-rusher, but offers the size, athleticism, motor, hand-use, and power to draw interest early in the draft, particularly as a player who put together two productive campaigns in the SEC to close out his collegiate career. Outstanding Combine may earn him a top-ten or top-fifteen selection.
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