Durkin's Prospect Watch: OLB Randy Gregory
By Dan Durkin—
(CBS) NFL coaches set the course for scouts by providing an athletic profile they're seeking for positions within their scheme. It then becomes the responsibility of the coaching staff to develop their personnel and transfer raw material into production on the field.
Today we take a look at an intriguing outside linebacker prosepct: Nebraska's Randy Gregory.
DE/OLB Randy Gregory (6-foot-5, 235 pounds, 22, Nebraska)
40-yard dash: 4.64
Three-cone: 6.79
Bench: 24
Vertical: 36 1/2"
Arm: 34"
Bio: Gregory took a well-traveled path before arriving in Lincoln. He originally committed to play football at Purdue but didn't qualify academically. He spent one year at Arizona Western Community College before transferring to Nebraska as the nation's top junior college defensive end prospect.
Gregory missed the 2012 season with a broken leg. His 10.5 sacks in 2013 are a Nebraska record for a first-year player and earned him team defensive MVP, national sophomore defensive player of the year and first-team All-Big Ten honors. In 2014, Gregory missed time due to a knee injury but finished with seven sacks and again earned first-team All-Big honors.
Gregory opted to forgo his final year of eligibility and finished his career at Nebraska with 24.5 tackles for loss and 17.5 sacks.
How he fits the Bears' scheme: Despite playing as primarily a base 4-3 defensive end at Nebraska, Gregory best projects as an outside linebacker prospect in a 30-front in the NFL. If he were to be on the Bears' radar, it would be as a weak-side outside linebacker.
While Gregory primarily rushed from a three-point stance, some of his most natural pass rushes came from a two-point stance, as they allowed him to set blockers up with his feet. He has a long, lean frame, which may not allow him to put on enough bulk to hold up at the point of attack on a snap-by-snap basis against bigger offensive tackles.
Gregory's more of a strider who takes a few steps to get up to full speed. He shows chase-in-space ability to track ball-carriers down the line of scrimmage in backside pursuit. He's a flexible speed rusher whose best asset is his length. His angular frame allows him to play with leverage and keep blockers at bay with one arm to keep his pads clean as he diagnoses the backfield action. He's not much of a power rusher and can struggle to disengage from a stalemate.
Gregory's physical tools are intriguing, but he has durability concerns and his motor runs hot and cold on film.
Draft projection: Gregory should be a top-20 selection.
Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.
