6’4” – 281 lbs. – 5.00
Appeared in twenty-five games over his first two seasons with the Eagles, starting one game as a sophomore (in a productive 36-10.0-6.0 campaign) before taking over a full-time starting role and posting 100-15.5-6.0 and 61-15.0-6.5 in his junior and senior seasons, respectively. Tall and thickly-built defensive end whose frame looks pretty much maxed out; good bulk in his lower body. Plays on both ends of the defensive line, in different techniques; team’s base defense uses four down linemen. Gets his arms extended to keep opposing blockers out of his pads in the run game; uses his hands to shed blockers successfully. Does a good job of keeping track of opposing when engaged. Good discipline in backside contain; stays home to prevent cutback opportunities. Able to use his size and strength to anchor against power, but is more of a read-and-react player who can stack and shed near the line than a powerful bull-rusher who resets the line of scrimmage. Gives some effort in pursuit but doesn’t really have the straight-line speed to chase runners toward the sidelines or make tackles further down the field. Refined pass-rusher who regularly mixes up his approach. Smooth mover who takes long strides and can bend the edge a little bit, but isn’t the most explosive player; nevertheless, goes with an outside rush on a sizable portion of his snaps. Uses his hands well; can swim or swipe his way past an opposing tackle. Flashes the ability to get under an opponent’s pads and convert speed to power to collapse the pocket. Has enough short-area quickness to penetrate with inside moves off the snap. Gets his hands up to bat down passes and was productive in that regard as a senior. Didn’t see him take enough snaps as an inside rusher to get a feel for his ability to generate pressure but has the type of frame to potentially do that. Also has some special-teams value, having blocked two kicks as a senior. An interesting prospect who combines a big frame with silky-smooth movement skills and plenty of variety in his rush repertoire; doesn’t have the raw speed and explosiveness teams look for in a primary pass-rusher, but he gets the most out of his skillset and doesn’t really have any other shortcomings. Ceiling might be a little bit limited, but will be coming into the league with the type of body and sophistication to contribute sooner rather than later and to give the team that drafts him peace-of-mind.
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