2022 Post-Senior Bowl Positional Re-Scouting/Re-Grading: EDGE Prospects
Here are the other Post-Senior Bowl positional reports: QB | RB | WR | TE
Every pre-Senior Bowl week, I do a preview scouting on each prospect attending. It’s a 30–60-minute review on each prospect (except OLs) of some of their background, looking over their college career outputs, and watching 15-20+ minutes of game tape and highlight reels, etc. It’s just the early stages of the scouting process. For many of the top names here we’ll preview again ahead of the NFL Combine and then do extensive work on many prospects after the Combine all the way through to August…on top of scouting them at the Senior Bowl week.
So, these positional preview scouting bytes…it’s a first reaction, a first handshake intro/greeting on them for us, so we can better watch/scout them all Senior Bowl week and beyond. After the Senior Bowl week, we’ll re-grade the group/update players who needed it coming out of the Mobile week, heading to the Combine week.
Here’s the post-event week grade reactions on these prospects (and some new ones added if they joined the Senior Bowl late/filled-in due to injury, etc.). The next scouting set of clues on these guys is in a few weeks at the NFL Combine.
EDGE Boye Mafe, Minnesota (Post-SB scouting grade: B+)
*Pre-Senior Bowl scouting grade: B
Estimate = 6’4”/260
SB Measurements: 6’3.4”/255, 9.7” hands, 33.3” arms
Post-SB Note: Came in our #1 ranked pass rusher of the SB group (and no one else’s) and left as some people’s new #1 pass rusher of this group. Mafe is a legit pass rusher – WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY more gifted than Kayvon Thibodeaux. It’s not even close. Mafe is just a natural, athletic, gifted pass rusher. Just a bit shorter than you like in an edge guy.
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Pre-SB Note: The best raw/natural pass rusher I’ve seen in my Senior Bowl 2022 previews. He has excellent feet, but also has some technique to him – instead of these guys all either trying to speed around a blocker, or bull rush them backwards…Mafe has actual technique and moves and great usage of his hands. He’s very agile, shifty to dance and fake past blockers. He’s a real prospect for the edge for the NFL.
NFL Comp? = A way better Dante Fowler. Maybe Harold Landry is more appropriate.
EDGE Jermaine Johnson, Florida State (Post-SB scouting grade: B-/C+)
*Pre-Senior Bowl scouting grade: C-
Estimate = 6’5”/260
SB Measurements: didn’t get measured
Post-SB Note: Was the star of the show for many observers. I thought he was really good in flashes, but not the best of the bunch here. Maybe I’m just not seeing it – but I don’t see the star power everyone else does yet. I see hope, upside, flashes of it…but not ready to go as high as the consensus – but I’m willing to be wrong at this point. Perhaps, the Combine will change me…or not.
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Pre-SB Note: Strange scouting. 17.5 TFLs/11.5 sacks in 12 games in 2021. Had a 5.0 TFL/3.0 sack game vs. Miami, Florida. But I watched a reel of all his sacks…and nothing is all that impressive. He’s strong. He doesn’t quit on his pass rushes/plays/snaps. But many of his sacks are where QBs ran in his direction trying to escape, or Johnson just strong-armed his way in range and got hold of the QB. There were no ‘wow’ pass rush moments for me…but then he keeps making plays in the backfield…but then you watch him and he runs like he’s got a broken hip/very stiff. A lot of conflicting scouting things to process further.
NFL Comp? = Darrell Taylor?
EDGE DeAngelo Malone, W. Ky (Post-SB scouting grade: B-/C+)
*Pre-Senior Bowl scouting grade: B
Estimate = 6’4”/240
SB Measurements: 6’3.2”/234, 10.2” hands, 33.0” arms
Post-SB Note: Accounted for himself well in Mobile. Showed well as a pass rusher and athlete. The only real hit was his coming in a bit smaller than expected.
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Pre-SB Note: He’s so slippery, so slithery getting past blockers – 59.0 TFLs, 32.5 sacks, 8 FF in his college career. It doesn’t look like he’s moving fast at first, but he can cut/zig zag around blockers so easily it gives him a bit of a superpower getting to the backfield. Whether he can do that against NFL-level blockers consistently is the question. The Senior Bowl will be a big hint at it.
NFL Comp? = Some Harold Landry.
EDGE Myjai Sanders, Cincinnati (Post-SB scouting grade: B-/C+)
*Pre-Senior Bowl scouting grade: B-/C+
Estimate = 6’4”/250
SB Measurements: 6’4.3”/242, 9.5” hands, 33.3” arms
Post-SB Note: Showed he was solid enough for the NFL here. Hung in with the big boys. Wasn’t the best of the week but was definitely good/solid. The Combine will be the next clue to whether he’s a ‘B’ or ‘C’, is still my mindset.
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Pre-SB Note: When I previewed Sanders in the summer, I thought he might be an ‘A’ level prospect. Watching his 2021 work, I’m taking a step back a bit. He’s billed as 6’5”/258 but I think he might be more 6’3”/250…we’ll see at the Senior Bowl weigh ins.
He’s hard to scout because he’s miscast into a 3-4 scheme defense as a DE. He’s a 3-4 OLB, or 4-3 DE. As a 3-4 DE it takes away a lot of his opportunity, creates situations with him getting easily doubled by the guard-tackle combo.
Sanders is 110% energy. Great, agile feet. There’s something here but we need the measurables on size and speed to see if it is more ‘B’ or more ‘C’.
NFL Comp? = He could be like a Harold Landry, smaller but effective edge rusher…but we need the measurables more to fill-in the picture.
EDGE Kingsley Enagbare, So. Carolina (Post-SB scouting grade: C)
*Pre-Senior Bowl scouting grade: B/B-
Estimate = 6’3”/260
SB Measurements: 6’3.6”/261, 10.3” hands, 35.0” arms
Post-SB Note: I hoped he would have stood out more in Mobile, instead he got surpassed by several edge prospects. He’s losing momentum. He’s worthy of drafting for his body/upside, and we’ll see more what the Combine says – but his 1st-round hopes are pretty well dead. His 2nd-round hopes have caught a cold too…
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Pre-SB Note: Didn’t look like he got any better 2020 to 2021 season. I thought he might be an ‘A’ potential prospect when I previewed some of his work in the summer of 2021 but looking at more preview tape here…not totally captivated as I was in my brief look last summer. He’s a very raw, very athletic EDGE rush prospect who could develop into a nice NFL pass rusher. There are nice tools here. I just don’t feel/see the greatness here yet, but it could develop.
NFL Comp? = Maybe a poor man’s Azeez Ojulari hope.
DL Michael Clemons, Texas A&M (Post-SB scouting grade: C-)
*Pre-Senior Bowl scouting grade: C
Estimate = 6’4”/265
SB Measurements: Did not attend
Post-SB Note: Did not attend
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Pre-SB Note: Good movement skills for his size. Very raw, very spastic pass rusher show might be something if he adds pass rush skills and technique to his physical gift. He has upside. The Combine could really give him a boost.
NFL Comp? = Maybe has some Josh Sweat erratic flashes in him.
EDGE Arnold Ebiketie, Penn State (Post-SB scouting grade: C-/D+)
*Pre-Senior Bowl scouting grade: D+
Estimate = 6’3”/253
SB Measurements: 6’2.3”/250, 10.5” hands, 34.0” arms
Post-SB Note: Had a solid week. Long arms and big hands were on display, but a little on the shorter side and not overly athletic. He was solid/fine but not a standout, to me.
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Pre-SB Note: Has some tools – pretty good when he gets a head of steam, but if he has to stop-start he’s ineffective. In the NFL he won’t be allowed to get several unstopped steps to ‘get going’. He has long arms/good reach. He’s just ‘capable’. Not a hot prospect, but not unworthy of the NFL…or a ‘look’ at least.
NFL Comp? = Derick Roberson
EDGE Cameron Thomas, San Diego State (Post-SB scouting grade: D+)
*Pre-Senior Bowl scouting grade: D+
Estimate = 6’4”/270
SB Measurements: 6’4.2”/239, 9.2” hands, 33.7” arms
Post-SB Note: Didn’t catch my attention one way or the other this week. Didn’t finish the week either. No grade change.
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Pre-SB Note: Energy and passion…he’s an ‘A’ with effort. Plays with his hair on fire and could make it in the league by sheer passion and aggression. However, he’s a bit of a statistical head fake because nice output…but most of it with him lining up as a DT and being a ‘too fast to keep up with’ undersized DT. He’d get swallowed up or blown back in the NFL, but in college you can be 265-270 and play DT. When he’s playing a more traditional DE/edge, he’s not as productive, not as dominant, he’s easier to keep up with.
He’s not a high-end edge. He’s not the greatest 3-4 DE projection. He’s too small for a DT for the NFL. He’s going to have an issuer finding a spot and then being productive at it in the NFL…but by sheer ‘will’ he may hang in the NFL.
NFL Comp? = Carl Nassib, Hercules Mata'afa – a combo hybrid of them.
EDGE Tyreke Smith, Ohio State (Post-SB scouting grade: D+)
*Pre-Senior Bowl scouting grade: D+
Estimate = 6’3”/260
SB Measurements: 6’3.0”/245, 10.4” hands, 33.6” arms
Post-SB Note: Came in lighter than projected. Cut weight to boost speed. Wasn’t bad, but nothing that stood out during the week.
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Pre-SB Note: Has the look of legit edge rush prospect, but then you look at his college career and it is ‘nothing’…injuries and low output. He has the look and body, and went to Ohio State, so he gets a look in Mobile.
NFL Comp? = Chris Smith?
EDGE Amare Barno, Va. Tech (Post-SB scouting grade: D+)
*Pre-Senior Bowl scouting grade: C-/D+
Estimate = 6’5”/245
SB Measurements: 6’4.2”/239, 9.2” hands, 33.7” arms
Post-SB Note: I remember seeing him day one, but I don’t have a note on him otherwise. So, he definitely didn’t do anything to grab my attention. I’m pretty sure he left early, but they don’t like telling us those things, so we get it by hearsay, or someone has a scoop. Measurables disappointed a bit too.
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Pre-SB Note: Thin frame, thin lower body forces him to struggle with big tackles to muscle past. He is sleek and has that speed to chase and reach to grab out. He’s a body that can disrupt with speed but not if anyone gets in his way, he just doesn’t have the strength/bulk to pass rush consistently off the edge. He’s a good situational speed pass rusher potential, maybe. He’s worth being drafted as a ‘project’.
NFL Comp? = Slower Leonard Floyd.
DL Isaiah Thomas, Oklahoma (Post-SB scouting grade: D)
*Pre-Senior Bowl scouting grade: D
Estimate = 6’5”/266
SB Measurements: 6’4.6”/258, 10.2” hands, 33.8” arms
Post-SB Note: Slimmed down some to be more of an edge rusher in Mobile. It wasn’t great. Not awful, but still suspect to be drafted top 200. He needs to turn heads with speed/agility times at the Combine or he could go undrafted or 7th-round.
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Pre-SB Note: Played a lot as a 4-3 DT…an undersized and quick college DT who slithered through and made some plays. But when he worked on the outside edge, he looked slow and easily blocked away. Not impressed. He’s not going to be an NFL DT, he’ll be an edge and he’s too slow, too unimpressive there for the NFL.
NFL Comp? = Weaker Jihad Ward?
EDGE Dominique Robinson, Miami, OH (Post-SB scouting grade: D-/F+)
*Pre-Senior Bowl scouting grade: D-/F+
Estimate = 6’4”/250
SB Measurements: 6’4.5”/254, 9.4” hands, 33.4” arms
Post-SB Note: Just looked out of place to me as an edge rusher. I’m surprised he measured as big as he did – because he looked and played small. He’s still very raw.
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Pre-SB Note: WR for 2 years, converted to edge rusher the past two seasons. He plays D-End like a WR…no real instincts, arms flapping all over the place. I didn’t see anything here to get excited about. We’ll see if he can do something nice at the Senior Bowl to get our attention.
NFL Comp? = Player not making it in the NFL anytime soon.
