Prospect Profile: Kenneth Grant, DL, Michigan

Evaluation

Get Off

Not the quickest in getting upfield from the snap. He does have some explosion to him and you can see him get-off the ball more quickly but it’s highly inconsistent and more often than not his upfield burst is only adequate on neutral downs.

Rushing the Passer

He is not just a space-clogging bigger Defensive Tackle, he carries his weight well and is compact and powerful when rushing the passer, with some intriguing movement skills for his size. He has a good rush plan, he knows how to take advantage of Offensive Linemen weaknesses – you can see him bully smaller Guards that he comes up against, using his powerful bull-rush and push-pull move to drag them all over the field, you can see him getting leaners to throw their hands at him before he hits them with the quick arm-over. He marries his feet and his hands well and uses not modest lateral quickness to help him threaten the edge of his opponent. He will consistently push the pocket when he chooses to, he flashes some ability to convert speed to power and his bull-rush can forklift Offensive Linemen off their feet. However, he doesn’t just deploy power moves, he has some explosion to him as a pass-rusher and the initial shock he can deliver in his club moves is impressive. He will use a club-swim and rip as well as a developing counter club. The thing that makes the counter club struggle is the same deficiency that you can see on his bull rush at times that allows better O-linemen to anchor against him, in that his hand timing can be a little tardy and it allows O-linemen with good hand usage, a glimmer of hope to get him blocked. He uses all these moves as part of a good plan, well executed. Where he must improve as a pass rusher is in his finish. When better Offensive Linemen manage to re-fit their hands or recover from his initial move, he doesn’t yet consistently work effective counters and can end up getting stuck on his blocker. He has limited bend so he will always be disadvantaged at the corner but he also doesn’t use his hands enough to get to the back shoulder, the initial move isn’t always sustained to allow him to finish and get to the Quarterback. Having said that, he faced a lot of double and even triple teams, opponents were overly scared of his size and the penetration he did get, often resulted in others on the Michigan Defensive Line getting sacks. Despite having to fight several guys on most plays he had the physical toughness to continue to bring his best every play, he has a remarkable motor.

Defending the Run

He reads Outside Zone plays quickly, and positions to get his hands into the blocker at the right angle to then lock out to gain leverage and constrict running lanes. He plays Outside Zone with consistent play strength and you can see him use his lateral quickness to get into the path of the ball carrier and tackle the runner in his gap, he is really very difficult to reach block. He has remarkable power derived from his lower body and even when it seems like the Offensive Lineman has control of the point of attack, he can come back and quickly overwhelm the blocker to make a tackle. He is equally good with reading motion across the formation and taking on Down blocks and Drive blocks where he again uses his excellent hand accuracy and timing, as well as his leverage to maximize his play strength, bench press the blocker and disrupt the runner. He can put blockers on the ground and will chase down runs from behind. Where he can be targeted as a run defender is with Inside Zone or Duo, he isn’t able to occupy double teams consistently, and does not prevent vertical movement onto the Linebackers behind him. When the block is overtaken he can control the blocker left on him but more often than not he’s been sealed too far out of the play and the Linebacker got blocked too. He can be driven off the ball in a way that you don’t see in most other areas of his game.

DRAFTED RAVEN COMP
Brandon Williams

PRODUCTION
Final year on campus: 3 Sacks, 1 QB Hit1, 32 Total Tackles
INJURY HISTORY: Hamstring strain discovered at Combine

RAVENS FIT
Athleticism 4
Intelligence 4
Versatility 4
Grit 5
Scheme 3