Scouting Thoughts On National Team Senior Bowl OL/DL 1v1s

Jon watches every National Team OL/DL pass rush drill at the Senior Bowl, talking wins, losses and scouting thoughts from the 1v1s.

National Team

DL YaYa Diaby, Louisville - 6-3, 264

Diaby looks like an edge, but took most of his 1v1s at defensive tackle. At Louisville, Diaby was an anchor end playing mostly head up over the tackle and inside the tight end. Only a handful of his snaps came at edge defender.

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Yaya Diaby vs. Blake Freeland #SeniorBowl

If Diaby is going to be a hybrid defensive lineman in the NFL, he seems to understand how he’ll need to win. The defensive tackle consistently tried to use his speed and quickness advantage to cross the face of blockers, forcing guards to move laterally to block him. On one rush off the edge, he hit a jab step crossover on BYU OT Blake Freeland and got to the pocket almost untouched. He’s quick on his feet, but is the hand usage good enough to stay off blocks?

OT Blake Freeland, BYU - 6-7 1/2, 312

For being one of the tallest offensive tackles in the draft, Freeland actually doesn’t have super long arms (34 inches). His struggles in 1v1s came when defending his frame. If defenders get into his chest, they’ll take him back into the quarterback’s lap. But Freeman rallied from some rough reps, showing the kind of smooth footwork to stop speed rushers at the top of the arc. On one rep, he rode App State’s Nick Hampton into the row of coaches behind the pocket, refusing to allow the edge rusher to corner. However, he’ll also overset at times, allowed speed-counter rushers to beat him inside.

C Jake Andrews, Troy - 6-3, 319

It was tough sledding for Andrews most of the week. He’s spent most of his college career at guard, but saw a lot of center action in Mobile. Most of his matchups came against Wisconsin’s Keeanu Benton and Northwestern’s Adebawore Adetomiwa, easily the best two defensive tackles in Mobile (during 1v1s anyway). He’s strong, but couldn’t mirror the explosiveness of better athletes trying to cross him up.

Having just over 32-inch arms isn’t a death knell by itself, but Andrews lack of length also showed up on tape this week.He hit rock bottom on Thursday, when Coastal Carolina’s Jerrod Clark beat him on back-to-back reps after basically not winning a one-on-one all week. Tough three days for Andrews.