Name: Chris Wormley
School: Michigan
Position fit: 3-4 defensive end or 4-3 defensive tackle
Stats to know: Led all defensive tackles in 2015 with a 12.5 pass-rushing productivity.
What he does best:
- Moves like a man 20 pounds lighter. So much so that Michigan played him a mostly on the edge despite being 6-foot-5, 298 pounds.
- Plays on the other side of the line of scrimmage in the run game. Fires off low and maintains pad level through contact.
- Insanely powerful frame. Picked up a good deal of his pressures simply through running through offensive linemen instead of around.
- Use of hands in run game is fantastic. When he recognizes block, he uses his length to control it with ease.
Biggest concern:
- If he couldn’t overpower an offensive lineman, he had no other recourse. Completely reliant on his physical advantage at the college level.
- Played as part of a heavy rotation at Michigan. Kept him always fresh.
- Very limited set of pass-rushing moves at the moment. At times it seemed like he was bull rush or nothing else.
- Can get caught with his head down in the run game lunging at blockers. Block recognition nothing special.
Player comparison: Lawrence Guy, New England Patriots
Wormley should be able to step into an NFL defense immediately and be a competent run defender, much like Guy. The pass-rushing part though he’ll have to develop and may never come around.
Bottom line: There aren’t too many interior players in this class that can match what Wormley brings to the table from an athletic perspective. He was playing out of place on the edge yet was still productive. Wormley’s pass-rushing may be the biggest concern at the moment as he was completely reliant on his physical advantage. That won’t be the case in the NFL, and he’ll have to develop his hands more as a pass-rusher and use his agility. That being said there aren’t many moldable pieces of clay on the interior as impressive as the Michigan defensive lineman in this class.
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