Name: Ejuan Price
School: Pittsburgh
Position: Edge defender
Stats to know: 27 sacks over the past two seasons.
What he does best:
- So talented with his hands. Almost never lets anyone get into his body.
- Size leaves offensive tackles a tiny strike zone. Forces tackles to time punch perfectly or he’s wriggling free.
- Short-area quickness is ridiculous. Can tilt a shoulder and be across the face of an offensive lineman in the blink of an eye.
- Deadly spin move. As quick as anyone’s in the class.
- Knows how to use his size to his advantage and gain leverage.
- Balance is superb. Low to the earth and rarely gets top heavy because of it.
- Gaining control of him on outside zone was a nightmare for tackles.
Biggest concern:
- Incredibly small to hold up on the edge in the NFL. Liability to get swallowed up on any given play by offensive tackle..
- Missed multiple full seasons due to injury (back and pec).
- Not much positional versatility. Has to be out on the edge if he’s playing early downs.
- Rarely likes to engages with offensive tackles. When he does, he struggles to get separation and finish plays.
- Limited burst. NFL tackles won’t be nearly as afraid of losing to him on the outside as college one’s were. Will limit effectiveness of his pass rushing moves.
Player comparison: None
Any legitimate comp to Price has to be an edge player 6 foot or shorter as that’s by far his defining characteristic. Price doesn’t have the raw strength of James Harrison or the burst of Elvis Dumervil. At that point there’s really no one left.
Bottom line: We want to believe in Price. After overcoming multiple serious injuries in college and his obvious size disadvantage, Price is easy to root for. The fact of the matter is though that undersized pass rushers are behind the 8-ball in the NFL. You’ll be hard-pressed to find an NFL tackle without long arms to keep Price at bay on the edge. Even still, Price has so many elite tools in his toolbox that he could be the rare exception to the rule.
© 2024 PFF - all rights reserved.