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Florida State DE
Jamal Reynolds
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This is the sixth in a series of articles previewing the top prospects, by position,
for the 2001 NFL draft and beyond.
This year’s group of defensive ends can really run and has pretty good pass-rush
potential. However, almost all the top prospects are undersized, and most have at least
one other negative aside from their lack of size.
Florida State’s dynamic trio of defensive ends probably best fits what I am
talking about. Jamal Reynolds can run like the wind, has an explosive
first step, plays hard and competes, hustles and chases, has very good balance and a quick
change of direction and will lead the Seminoles in sacks this year. However, he is only
about 6-3 and 255 pounds, and he really can’t hold the point very well and has a hard
time shedding blockers if they get their hands on him. He also plays in a defense that
really fits him because he is free to fly off the ball and has very little responsibility.
Roland Seymour had two starts and six sacks as a redshirt freshman in
1997 and then started and played very well in ’98. However, his play dropped off
somewhat in ’99, when he missed three games with injuries. Then at the end of the
year, he tore knee ligaments in the Sugar Bowl. He missed the first half of this season,
came back for the Miami (Fla.) game and has been iffy every week since. When healthy,
Seymour is quick and fast, uses his hands pretty well and has good balance. However, like
Reynolds, he is undersized and has problems holding the point and shedding blocks.
Coming out of high school, David Warren was rated as the top defensive
player in the country by USA Today, but he has not come close to living up to
expectations. Warren is undersized at about 6-2 and 245 pounds, but he has rare 4.45-type
speed in the 40-yard dash and is very strong for his size. However, unlike Reynolds and
Seymour, he relies more on strength and leverage than his great speed to get the job done.
Also, big blockers will just engulf him too often. He does not appear to have the
instincts to play linebacker and has had disc problems in his back that have slowed him
down.
When Rubin Carter played at Miami (Fla.), he was the best nose tackle in the country.
However, the Broncos were able to steal him in the fifth round of the ’75 draft
because he was undersized. Carter had a long and excellent career in Denver and was one of
the keys to the "Orange Crush" defense, but he was never given the credit he
deserved because he was a superb leverage player who excelled vs. the run and did all the
grunt work but rarely got sacks. California DE Andre Carter, Rubin’s
son, has most of his father’s positive traits, and he has the speed to rush the
quarterback. A three-plus-year starter and the most complete defensive end in the college
game, Carter is not as big as scouts would like, but he is a strong player who plays with
very good leverage. He has excellent techniques, runs extremely well, hustles and chases
and is conscious of his assignments. In fact, one of the raps on him is that he is so
assignment-oriented that he does not take enough chances to make big plays. Carter’s
work ethic is excellent, and if he goes to a game like the Senior Bowl and does well, it
would not surprise me if he is the first defensive end taken off the board and a high
first-round pick.
Texas Christian’s Aaron Schobel is a four-year starter who owns
all of TCU’s sack records. A speed rusher with a motor that never slows down, Schobel
is relentless in his pursuit of the quarterback, uses his hands well and can burst off the
edge. However, he is only about 255 pounds and is a rangy sort who seems to lack play
strength.
The big positives surrounding Southern Mississippi’s Cedric Scott
is that he has the size to play the run and the speed to rush the passer. At 6-5 and 275
pounds, Scott has the type of size and speed the pros are looking for. However, while he
does give good effort, he is an inconsistent pass rusher who does not come off blocks as
well as scouts would like.
One of the biggest enigmas at defensive end is Minnesota’s Karon Riley.
An undersized speed rusher who began his career at Southern Methodist, Riley is fast and
athletic and will flash big-time pass-rushing skills. However, too often he is the last
lineman to come off the ball and may not have the quick twitch and initial explosion most
great undersized pass rushers have. While he generally has held his own vs. the run in
college, at 6-2½ and 250 pounds, Riley is not exactly built to play the run at the next
level. He did lead the Big Ten with 16 sacks as a junior.
If you go off workout numbers, Nebraska’s Kyle Vanden Bosch is
almost a carbon copy of Grant Wistrom. He is a 6-3¾, 260-pound defensive end with
4.7-type speed in the 40-yard dash, a big motor, smarts and desire. However, Vanden Bosch
is not as quick or fast as Wistrom, does not play with quite as much strength and
naturalness and is not the disruptive force Wistrom was in college.
It’s hard to evaluate UCLA’s Kenyon Coleman because
he’s missed so much of the season with a left knee injury suffered vs. Michigan. He
is one of the bigger ends at 6-4 and 278 pounds and seems to have good initial quickness
and OK movement skills. However, he does not have great speed off the edge, lacks a great
closing burst and may not be as strong and well-levered in the lower body as the pros
would like. He is not really fast enough to be a right end and may not be stout enough vs.
the run to be a left end.
Arkansas’ Randy Garner is a former outside linebacker who has
gotten big enough to play down at 6-3½ and 270 pounds and still has the speed (4.8) to
rush the passer. He is quick off the edge, generally will hustle and chase and flashes
pass-rushing skills. Unfortunately, like most of this year’s DE crop, he has a hard
time coming off blocks and gets wired to the blocker too often.
Wisconsin’s Ross Kolodziej is a four-year starter. He is a solid
280 pounds, runs a 4.75 in the 40-yard dash, is one of the top shot-putters and weight men
on the Wisconsin track team, tests out as a really good athlete in terms of things such as
agility runs, vertical jumps and bench presses and gives very good effort. However, for
some reason, he can’t come close to getting his workout numbers to translate over to
the football field.
Mississippi State’s Ellis Wyms is sort of a DE-DT tweener at 6-3
and 282 pounds with a 5.0 time in the 40-yard dash. He is a better pass rusher than some
of the ends who run 4.75 but can’t get their speed to translate over to the football
field. |
