Posting this in this thread as well as the Gary thread:
Finished my review of Gary's work in 2018. Watched almost every snap (I don't feel confident about analyzing any one player without seeing the vast majority of their snaps in a season...in Gary's case I only missed the Western Michigan game...so I saw 8 of the 9 games from 2018). I don't focus on splash wins or losses as the basis of my analysis (i will let someone else review highlight videos), but snap by snap wins. Does the player defeat his opponent consistently? Does the player make a strong impact on the game?
Here are some thoughts:
* Gary is a better run defender than pass rusher.
* Gary does a solid job of stacking blockers, and shedding them for tackles. He is not dynamic as a run defender who makes a lot of tackles for loss (6.5 for the season), but does hold up well against the run. Not a good idea to use a TE to run block against Gary. He will win too often.
* He possesses good, but not great, lateral skills for a player who is considered an elite athlete. Gary is more of an up the field mover (North and South) mover. Can he run to the sideline? Sure. But, he is a straight-line speed guy. That is his strength.
* Gary is
MUCH better as a RDE than LDE. His productivity was strikingly different, win percentage much lower. I don't have a total # of snaps for each side, but I would venture to say that he was a RDE on 60% of snaps and 30% as a LDE, with about 10% inside.
* Gary comes off the ball quickly on passing downs. He is pretty fast off the snap. At the same time, there is very little bend to Gary. He is not a guy who runs the arc well.
*Gary's best attribute on passing downs is using burst and brute strength to push the OT backwards toward the QB. He doesn't do this enough. This is his top trait as a pass rusher.
* He has very limited secondary moves in pass rushing. If he get locked on, he is almost always done. Lacks a spin move. Really needs to add this to his game. Motor drops off quickly when initial move is stopped.
* Gary will have a splash play on a series and then have multiple series where he is really quiet. There is not a consistent domination of the opponent.
* I don't see the competitive fire that define many other top-tier athletes in this draft. Matched up against Isaiah Prince of OSU in a rivalry game, he was SO quiet. I expected more in a huge rivalry game.
My analysis is based on Gary's game tape. He is regarded as one of the freak athletes in this draft, and is primed to be a big winner at the combine as a world-class athlete. I just didn't see this translate to enough productivity on the field. It seems the push by many is to move him inside to DT where he can use his sudden, up the field movement and solid rush defense in the middle of the defense. He didn't take a lot of snaps there in 2018, but it may be his best option.
Fortunately, for Gary, someone is going to be enamored with the freaky physical traits he possesses, and he will be drafted far outside where I grade him. To me, as a DE, he is a mid-late second round grade, fringe top 50 player, based on productivity and wins. He is not going to be a bust, because there are parts of his game that are solid. But, this is not a top 10 player. Maybe he can take his game to a whole new level. But, that is a risky proposition for a team that is basing its analysis more on potential than tape. I wish nothing but the best for Gary in his future career.
P.S. Gary had the unfortunate landing spot in my analysis, directly after Ed Oliver, who is a flat-out stud monster who dominates games, and wins on a high percentage of snaps. I was primed to see the same level of dominance. But, Gary's play pales in comparison to Oliver.
[ Edited by MadDog49er on Feb 17, 2019 at 10:49 PM ]
