Prospect Profile: Nic Scourton, EDGE, Texas A&M

Evaluation

Get Off

He is not the most explosive rusher and looks like he plays heavier than the number he tested at. He has only adequate upfield burst especially from a 3 point stance, he is better from a 2 point stance and he does flash an ability to move more quickly off the ball but it’s highly inconsistent. You’d also like to see him gain ground more quickly in his second and third steps and put more pressure on the OL more quickly.

Rushing the Passer

A competent pass rusher, with an array of first moves to go to. He has a good plan for attacking the Offensive Lineman. He will use his footwork and his timing to get the OL off balance and set up his most dangerous moves. He sets up his bull rush well with his footwork and attacking the edge. He understands when an Offensive Linemen is an over-setter and how to get him to compromise the half-man and then to take advantage of it. He can also get OL to over-commit with their hands before working his own moves off this, the two-handed swipe is an often used and effective move when he does this. His fastball is a cross-chop, he times his hands well for this and has reasonably consistent accuracy to land his strike on the wrist and control the first part of the rep. He also has a good lateral jump mid-rep to help him get to the edge but this move continues on a theme for Scourton of being unable to finish the rush and affect the QB with pressure. He has solid bend, enough to turn the corner but it’s the lack of finish with his hands when facing good competition who can re-fit their hands, and his lack of speed around the edge that can allow him to get washed when rushing the edge as he is with his cross-chop. Although the cross-chop is his fastball, it’s not his strikeout pitch. He has a couple of moves that he uses more sparingly that show more promise in terms of finish. That includes a bull rush that is well timed and powerful, he can rock the Offensive Line backwards with his initial strike, and an electric chop-spin, which is a little over-used at the moment. While these moves are more promising, they have their own issues with finishing, including the lack of an effective ice-pick with the spin move to finish, and a counter to the Offensive Lineman who can reset his feet and re-anchor against his bull rush. This lack of effective counters is the story of his pass rush, which is good in the initial portion of the route and he does have good hands but he can’t adjust consistently when facing better competition. The one time you can see him adjust is when he’s using his processing ability more effectively in his rush, keeping his eyes in the backfield on the Quarterback and understanding the protection scheme, he’s able to come back inside when engaged on the edge to bring down a QB climbing the pocket. He also needs to be more effective with his pre-meditated inside moves, on these he can stand up too quickly and lose leverage. He has a good two-hand swipe move to initially disengage.

Defending the Run

He’s an excellent run defender who diagnoses Gap running plays quickly. He will take on Base blocks head-on with excellent hand usage, he will get underneath his blocker with violence and plays with leverage and force to get in the backfield quickly. He sees movement across the formation clearly and manages to avoid kick-out blocks and pullers when they’re targeting him. He uses his change of direction well to avoid blocks altogether in space. He has heavy hands against the run and resets the OL’s levels, he can even absorb double teams and still make an impact on the runner. Doesn’t react to Outside Zone as quickly and you can see him pinned inside by reach blocks but his hand usage gets him out of trouble on multiple occasions as he plays with such effective play strength, he can still defeat the block and get into the backfield.

DRAFTED RAVEN COMP
Daelin Hayes – this seems like a huge knock on Scourton, but it’s not; I had high hopes for Hayes coming out. They’re similar, but Scourton does have more juice to his pass-rush to work with.

PRODUCTION
Final year on campus: 4 Sacks, 4 QB Hits, 33 Total Tackles, 1 FF
INJURY HISTORY: SO: Freak accident caused him to miss one game with undisclosed injury.

RAVENS FIT
Athleticism 2
Intelligence 5
Versatility 4
Grit 4
Scheme 4