6’0” – 240 lbs.
Led the team in tackles as a freshman, finishing with 86-5.0-1.0. Followed that up with 89 tackles as a sophomore, 84-7.5-3.0 as a junior, and a monster senior campaign of 108-20.0-3.0 with twelve hurries. Team captain in the middle whose height and length are lacking but who actually has a pretty thick build, especially in the torso and thighs. At his best, is an effective downhill linebacker who comes downfield quickly and has enough lateral quickness to slide into gaps and make tackles. Able to get low and make himself a small target. Gives good effort in pursuit and is willing to chase toward the sidelines. Tackling radius is limited, although he can thump when he successfully squares up opponents. However, instincts on tape during the games reviewed didn’t really match his production; was expecting him to be better at reading keys and flowing to the ball for a four-year starter. Can get engulfed by opposing offensive linemen and struggle to disengage, and so tends to rely more on his quickness to slip past blockers. That can lead him to take some circuitous, inefficient paths to the ball. Overpursues and ends up having to try and double back to the past gap too often, without the length necessary to compensate. Too often bites on misdirection and isn’t quite fast enough to chase down runners in backside pursuit. Looks athletic when working between the tackles, but seems to lack the stamina to pursue much further than that. Stayed on the field on passing downs, but tended to have very simple coverage assignments, serving primarily as a quarterback spy but also rushing the passer or working in shallow zones. Times his blitzes well and does a good job of finding clear lanes the passer. Looks tenacious when pursuing fleeing passers out of the pocket, and although he didn’t rack up a ton of sacks, does a nice job of disrupting the play. Might rotate off of the field on passing downs at the next level, as it may be asking too much of him to match up against tight ends or carry running backs out of the backfield. A productive, thickly-built thumper with some lateral quickness and pop when working between the tackles in the run game, but who lacks length, whose instincts and angles in pursuit are iffy, and who doesn’t have a ton of value in coverage. Looks more like a reserve/special-teams type of guy who could get some looks on the third day.
DRAFTEXAMINER 