Scouting Report: Jerry Hughes, DE/OLB, TCU

Ht: 6'2 Wt: 257 40: 4.72

Strengths: Plays with great quickness. Has good burst and acceleration. Displays great strength at times. Very athletic. He can run the arch extremely well. Elite pass rusher. He shows a good motor when rushing the passer, but an inconsistent one against the run. He looks much more comfortable standing and rushing the quarterback, as opposed to going into a three-point stance. Uses good pass rushing techniques (spin, bull rush, swim ect.). He does a great job of fighting off blocks. He uses his hands pretty well to disengage offensive lineman, but he needs to be more consistent in this area. He uses good angles when in pursuit. Big hitter. Does a great job of keeping his outside shoulder free against the run and he stays home; which shows good discipline. Average ability in zone coverage for a DE\OLB. Has great awareness and instincts (able to read screens, runs, pass). Had a very productive career. He has a nose for the football; he is a playmaker. Has good work ethic and leadership.

Weaknesses: Does not have great size, he will struggle against bigger offensive lineman. Somewhat of a tweener. Not effective against the run. He can have a very poor three-point stance at times. He struggles versus the double team. Pretty solid tackler, however, he often tackles a little too high and does not consistently wrap up; he will need to improve in this area. When linemen get underneath his pads, he gets driven back. He sometimes seems to be more driven on certain plays compared to others; needs to work on his consistency.

Summary: Jerry Hughes, a former RB turned DE, is a pass rushing specialist. He can be a complete menace to opposing quarterbacks. He has had an extremely productive career at TCU and has capped it off with a great senior season. He has proven that he knows how to beat offensive lineman and get to the quarterback. He is very athletic and has an outstanding motor when rushing the passer. He displays good footwork and is a great playmaker. He will most likely be a 3-4 rush OLB in the NFL. One of my main concerns with Hughes is that he relies mainly on beating offensive lineman with his speed. In the NFL he will be facing lineman that are a lot quicker than the competition he faced in college; his speed will not be as effective. He will need time to adjust to the speed of NFL tackles. Another concern for Hughes is that he needs to improve against the run. He is a dominant pass rusher, but an average run stopper. It is vital that he improves in this area. Teams want a well rounded prospect in the 1st round, and Hughes at this point is mainly a pass rusher. There is no doubt about Hughes potential. He is extremely athletic, strong and has above average instincts. He is a vocal leader with good work ethic and leadership. However, he is a little undersized and not effective run stopper. Despite these concerns, his pass rushing skills and athletic ability are simply too good to pass up and he will likely hear his name called in the late 1st early 2nd round.

Draft Projection: Late 1st round - Early 2nd round.