Ed Oliver, DL, Houston
Strengths:
Ed Oliver is a powerful interior pass-rusher and is extremely fast at the point of attack. He explodes out of his stance and gains instant penetration into the backfield. Oliver plays with a good pad level, staying low which allows his explosiveness to be even more effective. He has active hands to get off blockers’ hands and can bend with the agility to redirect to the quarterback. His intelligence and instincts also lead to him batting a lot of passes for a defensive tackle, which is the next best thing after a sack.
In the run game, Oliver fires into the backfield to blow up runs behind the line of scrimmage. He flies to the ball and demonstrates a relentless style of play to chase down ball-carriers. He has a rare amount of closing speed for an interior defensive lineman. Oliver has good instincts and recognition skills that allows him to be in position to make a lot of plays. Once again, his low pad level helps him by rarely letting him get pushed off the line of scrimmage against driving blockers.
Weaknesses:
Oliver’s biggest weakness is his lack of size. It was reported that at the Combine some teams were interested in Oliver moving to an off-ball linebacker. His size may affect him at the next level holding up against downhill runs coming straight at him. He struggles with lateral movements which will be problematic lining straight up over a blocker. Double teams also can give him problems, which he faced routinely at Houston and therefore doesn’t have the stats to backup his traits.
Draft projection:
Top 10 pick
Oliver is a dominant and versatile force on the defensive line. He can move blockers with his power and can bend past their hips. Oliver has seen his stock slide slightly since the summer, but I still believe he is the third best player in this class. Oliver may be selected outside the top 10, but I believe that if that happens, we will be talking about all the teams passing up on him in a few years.