NFL 2021 Draft

Why? What about his skillset makes him an interior guy? He's 6'7 without a Calais Campbell lower body.

The only criticism I've ever heard about his edge work is that he doesn't have elite twitch. OK. He's also the longest player in the draft and plays with the fluidity of a high school DB. That allows him to cover the ground he needs to cover.

The year off allowed people to overthink Rousseau. If he played this season and stayed healthy, he'd be a no-brainer Top 5 guy like Chase Young (the only player who got more sacks than him).
Its the twitch and he also plays pretty high.

You've seen many of my draft posts...I'm always a WHERE THEY WIN guy. Greg Rousseau wins on the inside. You want him to be a natural EDGE guy, but thats too much projection for me. When he lines up outside, he comes off the snap high without a lot explosion and the twitch combined with - IMO - a lack of elite bend from the edge make me lean toward what my eyes see with him on the interior. On the edge, he comes out without much of a plan of attack, lots of wasted movement, and doesn't exactly have a filled toolbox to make up for the lack explosion/twitch. Even on his sacks where he lined up outside, hes twisting inside to get space against an interior guy. You say hes got DB fluidity, but I see a lot of film where he looks really stiff.

In college, he's long, athletic, and pretty strong for a guy who hasn't fully developed physically yet. His hustle and relentlessness through trash is one of his better characteristics, IMO, and again, that all came from the interior where I thought his run defense was a strength. In the NFL, without a plan of attack and against OTs that are trained to get their hands on you, idk how well Rousseau holds up without a lot of coaching here from the outside. Too much projection and coaching to be an EDGE guy. I think the gap is closer to develop him as a long 34 end.
 
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Teams reach on pass rushers. I thought Chubb was a reach. Dion Jordan, Barkevious Mingo. It happens all the time.

This draft is different because it's strong at QB, pass catcher and OT and those are all premium positions. Then Parsons (pending off-field) and CBs are rated higher than the DL guys. I think 1st guy goes in 15-20 range.
A DE has got a better shot of going top five, than he does going at twenty. I guess we’ll all watch and see. I think both of our guys will be gone by 20 for sure. Greg should go top ten. My2 can’t wait to watch this play out.
 
People are overthinking Rousseau. The guy got 4 sacks in his first scrimmage and multiple sacks in every scrimmage after that. In his only season, he had 15.5 sacks. He's also a 6'7 monster with bend and change of direction.

The other pass rushers in this draft don't get sacks. Paye and Oweh combined for 2 between them. Rather than making excuses for their lack of production, give me the freak who consistently gets the QB down on the ground.
I keep laughing inside at the people trying to come up with nonsense about GR and why Phillips is better and why GR will drop. When the NFL gets one look at his dinosaur body and his workout at UM he's going top 10.
 
Why? What about his skillset makes him an interior guy? He's 6'7 without a Calais Campbell lower body.

The only criticism I've ever heard about his edge work is that he doesn't have elite twitch. OK. He's also the longest player in the draft and plays with the fluidity of a high school DB. That allows him to cover the ground he needs to cover.

The year off allowed people to overthink Rousseau. If he played this season and stayed healthy, he'd be a no-brainer Top 5 guy like Chase Young (the only player who got more sacks than him).

Just to continue the discussion. Here is his four sack game versus FSU. The sorriest OL you'll ever see.

I don't believe this is every snap of his, bu its over 4m of film. I had started to chop up some gifs, but why waste my time...its pretty clear cut, there isn't much, if at all disruption from the outside. Whenever the tackle got his hands on Rousseau, he was stood up and wasn't involved in the play. All of his disruption comes from the interior where he uses his athleticism and motor to get through trash (where he uses his impressive wingspan to get a sack and trip up ballcarriers) and around guards.



Here is Virginia Tech 2019



Hustle tackles look good here. Gets a sack when being blocked by a TE.

Virginia 2019



Nice bullrush against RT and ultimately trips up Perkins for a 1 yard gain. Nice unblocked TFL. Watch the one-on-one at the 3m mark...prime opportunity to showcase the bend and he's stood up. Garvin breaks down the pocket and Rousseau cleans it up in the 4th - again, in garbage (where I think Rousseau excels). Low key, I thought 72 did pretty well against Rousseau throughout the game.

Thats just a three game sample...but idk if I see one real deal, first round pass rusher from the EDGE rep there. I see some really good reps on the interior, in garbage, stopping the run or getting high effort sacks or just beating ****ty interior play.

I still like Rousseau, and think he's a R1 type, but you and I clearly vastly disagree with his future role. I think he's got a big leap to make as a pass rusher from the EDGE spot. I think he's a farther along as a run defender from the edge than a pass rusher. He's got a bullrush, but there isn't a lot of film where he's showing good hand work, good bend, etc.

Jaelan Phillips in 2020 v. Virginia Tech



First play of the clip, beats a tackle for sack. Goes in with a plan, sets the tackle up with a little inside before accelerating, bending and generating speed to power through any contact and getting a sack. Second play, doing what Rousseau does well (disrupt the run) but finishing the play himself. While many times Rousseau could get flushed from a play because he plays high, a few plays later you see Phillips hold his own on the edge forcing the QB to go up the middle for a TFL. Shows the ability to disengage from a tackle a few plays after that 1:45 mark, again beats a tackle, this time to the inside for a sack. Uses his hands, doesn't let the OT get on him and boom. Done. I don't want to go through the whole 10m, you can for yourself, but I see two R1 reps getting sacks on an ACC tackle in the first 1m45s of that clip and struggled to find any for Rousseau in three games. Again, I think our evaluations on Rousseau vary dramatically. We just think he's two different players.
 
Dane Brugler has the following Canes ranked in his top 100:

24. Rousseau - EDGE4
29. Phillips - EDGE5
82. Jordan - TE4

This mirrors what I've been saying which is that GR made a (earnings) mistake opting out and Jordan should have returned to push for 1st rd consideration.

Looking at the draft order I see these teams as being fits in those ranges:
Rousseau - IND, TEN, SEA or he slides
Phillips - LAR, CLE, TB, BUF
Jordan - JAX, ATL, PHI, ARI
I keep seeing more and more mocks with Phillips to the dolphins
 
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Why? What about his skillset makes him an interior guy? He's 6'7 without a Calais Campbell lower body.

The only criticism I've ever heard about his edge work is that he doesn't have elite twitch. OK. He's also the longest player in the draft and plays with the fluidity of a high school DB. That allows him to cover the ground he needs to cover.

The year off allowed people to overthink Rousseau. If he played this season and stayed healthy, he'd be a no-brainer Top 5 guy like Chase Young (the only player who got more sacks than him).
The fact that the vast majority of his production came from the interior, and he had very few legit rushes/pressures from the edge on a high volume of snaps.

Maybe he develops an edge rush skillset, maybe he doesn't. Either way I've lost count of the number of analysts who characterize his opt out as a mistake. He had and still has a lot to prove and he cost himself a lot of money with his decision.
 
Love Greg but he's very raw. I think he'd be a perfect fit for the Titans at 22 or the Patriots at 15. I'd be very surprised if a team that plays 4-3 picks him. All of you thinking one year's production and a great physique is going to get him drafted in the top 10 are going to be disappointed.
 
Dont let Greg get drafted by New England.

Although I highly doubt that EDGE will be drafted, since the team has spent draft resources into the position (Winovich, Uche, Jennings) and will possibly get Van Noy after he was cut by the Dolphins, Bill loves to do stuff that no one expects.

Rousseau would be moved all over the LoS due to his length, with him even playing DT at times, especially in pass rush situations. They did that with Trey Flowers and Flowers became unblockable in his last season in New England. Rousseau is twice the athlete, so he will turn into an All-Everything there.
 
It’s a good thing that no one has ever been drafted top ten off of measurable’s, potential and with a limited sample size. 😂 I do love this board. Every kid in our recruiting class is a future all American because of this. However, our all American is now overrated because of this. Unbelievable.... It only takes one of thirty two to fall in love with his skillset. He will cash his lottery ticket. We will brag about him for decades.
 
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Its been said enough on here..lets all have this discussion AFTER the combine and/or UM Pro Day and see where everyone stands. Nobody has really seen GR15 in a year so nobody knows anything really. There has been internet chatter and social media posts i assume but we are all just like NFL teams..speculating. I am sure Drew Rosenhaus told GR15 that he needs to steal the show at the combine/pro day if he wants to be a top 15 pick. I am predicting he will.
 
It’s a good thing that no one has ever been drafted top ten off of measurable’s, potential and with a limited sample size. 😂 I do love this board. Every kid in our recruiting class is a future all American because of this. However, our all American is now overrated because of this. Unbelievable.... It only takes one of thirty two to fall in love with his skillset. He will cash his lottery ticket. We will brag about him for decades.
Agree. Nobody says anything about Jamar Chase who basically is GR15 on offense as far as college career. Had one unbelievably great year then opted out. I dont see Jamar Chase sliding down any draft boards. Hes a consensus top 15 pick. Same with Micah Parsons. I feel that its our fanbase spreading this nonsense that somehow he hurt his draft stock immensely by opting out of a season that half the teams in the P5 didnt want to even play. Its was a $hitshow season however you want to spin it. And now hes being punished for that? Only on CIS. Lets see what NFL teams say in April.
 
From pro football network:

At EDGE, who are the overrated/underrated guys in the 2021 NFL Draft? Jayson Oweh and Greg Rousseau seem overhyped to me — too raw to contribute in Year 1. Is that unfair? Also, does Jaelan Phillips’ health history concern you?

I agree Gregory Rousseau is overrated, and in my opinion, he made a mistake opting out. He’s a good pass rusher, but I am concerned about his ability against the run at the next level.

As far as Jaelan Phillips and his injury history, his multiple concussions have got to raise red flags. It’s something teams must closely inspect.
 
From pro football network:

At EDGE, who are the overrated/underrated guys in the 2021 NFL Draft? Jayson Oweh and Greg Rousseau seem overhyped to me — too raw to contribute in Year 1. Is that unfair? Also, does Jaelan Phillips’ health history concern you?

I agree Gregory Rousseau is overrated, and in my opinion, he made a mistake opting out. He’s a good pass rusher, but I am concerned about his ability against the run at the next level.

As far as Jaelan Phillips and his injury history, his multiple concussions have got to raise red flags. It’s something teams must closely inspect.
Advice from me: Avoid Pro Football Network.
 
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It’s a good thing that no one has ever been drafted top ten off of measurable’s, potential and with a limited sample size. 😂 I do love this board. Every kid in our recruiting class is a future all American because of this. However, our all American is now overrated because of this. Unbelievable.... It only takes one of thirty two to fall in love with his skillset. He will cash his lottery ticket. We will brag about him for decades.
The funiest thing. Every year like clock work we have "fans" rationalizing ways to sh*t on our players.
 
From pro football network:

At EDGE, who are the overrated/underrated guys in the 2021 NFL Draft? Jayson Oweh and Greg Rousseau seem overhyped to me — too raw to contribute in Year 1. Is that unfair? Also, does Jaelan Phillips’ health history concern you?

I agree Gregory Rousseau is overrated, and in my opinion, he made a mistake opting out. He’s a good pass rusher, but I am concerned about his ability against the run at the next level.

As far as Jaelan Phillips and his injury history, his multiple concussions have got to raise red flags. It’s something teams must closely inspect.
Whether I agree or disagree with this take, don't go to Tony Pauline for prospect evaluations. He's not good at it. He has a lot of sourced info which is useful but he's as bad as Kiper at draft analysis.
 
The funiest thing. Every year like clock work we have "fans" rationalizing ways to sh*t on our players.

idk if its funnier than the "fans" we have that are sitting around on Day 3 wondering why Jon Garvin goes in the 6th round or Gerald Willis or Jeff Thomas going undrafted.

idk if its ****ting on a player to say "man, idk if he's got R1 tape at this spot" and maybe pumping the brakes on the sunshine and rationalizing the players we've seen every snap of. Its not like we're ****ting on Andre Johnson here, playa.
 
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I was just passing information along!

Not that I agree or disagree with anything ExcepT I do think Greg cost himself some money by sitting out.
 
idk if its funnier than the "fans" we have that are sitting around on Day 3 wondering why Jon Garvin goes in the 6th round or Gerald Willis or Jeff Thomas going undrafted.

idk if its ****ting on a player to say "man, idk if he's got R1 tape at this spot" and maybe pumping the brakes on the sunshine and rationalizing the players we've seen every snap of. Its not like we're ****ting on Andre Johnson here, playa.
We had those?.

Naw son you wrote a novel on negatves on rousseau. Your first part was downplaying 4 sacks against our most hated rival.

That being said i do follow you and most of your post because you know your sh*t...but in what world is MOTOR on a dl seen as a negative?.
 
IMO Rousseau is how you would build an edge rusher in a lab, long, lean athlete, long arms, explosive athlete. And yes he's a raw athlete that's relatively new to the position, if I'm an NFL GM I'm salivating over a kid like this that my coaches can mold into an All-pro.
 
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