Prospects Could Put Packers’ Pass Rush In Fast Lane

The pass rushers, a position of need for the Green Bay Packers, put on one heck of a display of speed at the Scouting Combine on Thursday night.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Mar 3, 2023 8:01 AM EST
Original:
Mar 2, 2023

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers need to upgrade their pass rush. In a hurry. The 2023 NFL Draft class should help.

In a breathtaking display of speed at the NFL Scouting Combine, 11 edge rusher prospects broke 4.60 seconds in their 40-yard dash. That number is made more impressive considering a number of prospects projected to go in the first two or three rounds will run their 40 at pro day, instead.

The 40 isn’t the end-all, be-all for a pass rusher but it does point to overall athleticism. That athleticism shows up in Relative Athletic Score, which combines height, weight and all the testing numbers into one handy number that’s on a 0-to-10 scale.

Thursday’s sprint show was led by Georgia’s Nolan Smith. With a 4.39-second clocking in the 40, he’ll be faster than just about everyone on the field other than a cornerback or receiver. His 10-yard time of 1.52 seconds and 41.5-inch vertical led the way, too. Not bad for a guy who missed the second half of the season with a torn pectoral.

“I play football. That’s why I’m here. I haven’t done anything in a long time,” Smith told reporters at the Indiana Convention Center on Wednesday. “I can’t wait to showcase my talents. Everyone thought I died and all this stuff. I turned off the mock drafts, I turned off my phone, and I picked up a book. You can’t hurt me. I just wanted to create an iron mind, a mindset that no one can hurt me.”

While Smith has been mocked to Green Bay as a first-round possibility, the Packers usually like powerhouses on the edge, so he might not fit at 6-foot-2 and 232 pounds. He’s garnered comparisons to explosive Eagles pass rusher Haason Reddick.

Because he’s not a big man, especially compared to the other edge rushers, his 9.20 RAS lagged behind some of his competitors.

Nolan Smith runs his 40 at the Scouting Combine. (Photo by Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports)

Along with the aforementioned Smith, here are the 11 fastest edge rushers, ranked in order Relative Athletic Score.

Louisville’s YaYa Diaby (6-3, 263), 4.51 40; 9.85 RAS: A breakout final season of nine sacks and 14 tackles for losses in 2022. Entering his senior year of high school, he had zero scholarship offers. Not just to the powerhouse schools. He even was ignored by FCS programs. He was 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds at the time.

Projected: Day 3.

Iowa’s Lukas Van Ness (6-5, 272), 4.58 40; 9.74 RAS: Wasn’t a starter but recorded 13 sacks and 19 tackles for losses in two seasons. In 2022, he was second-team all-Big Ten as a redshirt sophomore.

His physique matches his nickname of Hercules. “That came about in an interview about a year ago with one of my defensive tackles, Noah Shannon. He kind of mentioned the name in an interview and it stuck and since then/ I like to pride myself in the weight room. It's something I'd always love to do is improve your body and work hard. And it's kind of a name that stuck and it's been fun. We joke around with it. And I'm assuming it'll stick for a while to go.”

Projected: First round.

Notre Dame’s Isaiah Foskey (6-5, 264), 4.58 40; 9.54 RAS: Big-time production with 10 sacks and six forced fumbles in 2021 and 11 sacks and 14 tackles for losses in 2022 to earn consensus All-American honors. Finished with school-record 26.5 sacks.

As he told The Draft Network at the Senior Bowl: “Everybody knows I can get to the quarterback one way or another. I want to show everybody that I can impact the quarterback in a variety of ways. I have a versatile pass-rushing arsenal. I can get to the quarterback with speed or my counter moves. That’s mostly what I’m out to showcase.”

Projected: Second round.

Louisville’s Yasir Abdullah (6-1, 237), 4.47 40; 9.47 RAS: One of the more confounding prospects in the draft, Abdullah has the build of a smallish off-the-ball linebacker but the skill-set of a pass rusher with 19.5 sacks, 32 tackles for losses and four forced fumbles his final two seasons.

Projected: Early Day 3.

Tennessee’s Byron Young (6-2, 250), 4.43 40, 9.25 RAS: Seven sacks and 12 tackles for losses as a senior to earn all-SEC first-team honors. He said he models his game after Khalil Mack.

The 40 time was good but his focus was elsewhere. “Just my footwork, lateral movement, just things like that. In my drills, I feel like they're really going to be keying in on my technique, so I'm definitely prepared for that.”

Young isn’t exactly young. He’s 24, having spent a year-and-a-half working at a Dollar General before enrolling at a junior college.

Projected: Early Day 3.

Auburn’s Derick Hall (6-3, 254), 4.55 40; 9.22 RAS: Two strong seasons with 9.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for losses as a junior and 6.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for losses as a senior. Two forced fumbles each season.

Projected: Early Day 3.

Georgia’s Nolan Smith (6-2, 238), 4.39 40; 9.20 RAS): Three sacks and seven tackles for losses in eight games in 2022 and 11.5 sacks, 21 TFLs and four forced fumbles for his career.

Projected: First round

Oregon’s D.J. Johnson (6-4, 260), 4.49 40; 9.17 RAS: Played tight end in 2020, tight end and outside linebacker in 2021 and outside linebacker in 2022. Paced the Ducks with six sacks and added 8.5 TFLs.

“Last year was the first year I was primarily defense, and that was my most productive year,” he said at the Combine. “That's just a start. Already in the last three months I've improved substantially from the end of the season. Im always looking to grow. When I get to that next level, I feel the ceiling is as high as it can be.”

Projected: Day 3.

Georgia’s Robert Beal (6-4, 247), 4.48 40, 8.51 RAS: The former five-star recruit had three sacks and three tackles for losses as a senior after a career-high 6.5 sacks alongside Devonte Wyatt and Quay Walker in 2021.

Projected: Early Day 3.

Appalachian State’s Nick Hampton (6-2, 236), 4.58 40; 7.84 RAS: Fourth in school history with 26.5 career sacks. In nine games as a senior, he had seven sacks and three forced fumbles. That was on the heels of 11 sacks and 17 TFLs in 2021.

Projected: Day 3.

Kansas’ Lonnie Phelps (6-2, 244), 4.55 40; not enough info for RAS: Closed his career with back-to-back banner seasons of 8.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for losses at Miami (Ohio) in 2021 and seven sacks and 11.5 tackles for losses with the Jayhawks in 2022.

Projected: Day 3.

Also, Northwestern’s Adetomiwa Adebawore ran his 40 in 4.49 seconds. At 6-foot-2 and 282 pounds. Because he’s such a big man, his RAS was a D-line-best 9.85. He’ll more than likely play as a 4-3 defensive tackle in the NFL, but scouts asked him to work with the edge group. He had 11.5 sacks and 23.5 tackles for losses during his final three seasons.

He said he watches a lot of Rams superstar Aaron Donald. “I would say I'm athletic enough to do some of the things he's doing and I try to implement some of his game while I am playing three-technique in terms of the pass rush.”

Iowa State’s Will McDonald, a Wisconsin native and Day 2 prospect, didn’t run a 40 and therefore doesn’t have a RAS, but he led the edge group with an 11-foot broad jump. That’s pretty incredible considering he reportedly had a fever of 104 on Tuesday. He posted superb production in college with a whopping 34 career sacks after perhaps rubbing Wisconsin recruiters the wrong way while in high school.