Greg Rousseau needs another great season to make Mel Kiper Jr’s top 10
After a breakout season in 2019, Miami Hurricanes rising redshirt sophomore defensive end Greg Rousseau needs to continue to improve to convince ESPN draft guru, Mel Kiper Jr., he belongs in the top 10 of 2021 NFL Draft prospects.
In his first full season playing college football in 2019, Greg Rousseau finished among the national leaders with 19.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks. ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. wants to continue to see Rousseau improve to rise further up his 2021 NFL Draft board. Kiper has Rousseau a shocking 24th on his big board.
Most 2021 NFL Mock Drafts which were posted shortly after the 2020 Draft concluded have Rousseau as a top 10 pick. Kiper felt that too much of Rousseau’s production came in a few games. Nearly half of the sacks Rousseau had in 2019 came in back to back weeks with seven combined against Pittsburgh and Louisville.
The only other games Rousseau recorded multiple sacks came against Duke and Louisiana Tech in the final two games of the season. Rousseau had two against the Blue Devils and 1.5 against the Bulldogs. Rousseau will team with Temple graduate transfer Quincy Roche and rising redshirt junior Jaelan Phillips on the defensive line.
Roche was the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 and Phillips was the top recruit in the nation when he signed with UCLA in 2017. Kiper discussed Greg Rousseau on the ESPN College Football Podcast with Kevin Negandhi. Kiper appears on the second half of the show.
"“He had all of those sacks at Miami in Florida…I thought some of them were coverage sacks. I’d like to see him improve his technique and have a little bit better get off at the line. We’ll see what he does. A lot of these guys (need to) get more consistency. We want to see a jump up in production.For some of these guys, put (together) two great years back-to-back. That’s what we’re looking for. A little bit better technique. Another year of production."
It is tough to decipher what Kiper meant by claiming that Rousseau had all his sacks in Florida. The breakout game for Rousseau came with seven tackles, three TFLs and three sacks in a 16-12 Miami win at Pittsburgh. The performance that Rousseau had in Pittsburgh showed the ability to play in cooler weather on the road.
Kiper could have been questioning the ability by Rousseau to perform outside of Florida and in cooler weather. The inexperience is clearly something Kiper was also questioning. Kiper Jr. wants to see another elite season from Rousseau. Kiper said the same thing about star LSU WR Ja’Marr Chase.
"24. Gregory Rousseau, DE, MiamiHT: 6-7 | WT: 253 | Class: Third-year sophomoreThis isn’t a great class for edge rushers, though it’s still early. Elite pass-rushers could still emerge. Rousseau had 15.5 sacks last season, but I didn’t see a top-10 edge rusher on tape. In going back through Miami games, his tape didn’t match the production.Some of those sacks were coverage sacks, and others came from when he was beaten but dove to get the quarterback’s ankles. He plays too high at times. Still, you can’t deny his length and traits, but I want to see him do it again this season."
The above is Kiper Jr.’s analysis of Rousseau came in his list of top 25 players for the 2021 NFL Draft. Kiper Jr. has Rousseau ranked the top DE in the 2021 NFL Draft. On the same list, Kiper Jr. has Brevin Jordan as the third-ranked TE and Roche projected as the third-best outside linebacker in the NFL.
Next. Greg Rousseau has improvements to make for 2021 NFL Draft. dark
After having no players taken in the first two days of the NFL Draft for the second year in a row the 2021 NFL Draft should be more successful for the Miami Hurricanes. Rousseau, Roche, Jordan and potentially quarterback D’Eriq King are projected to be taken in the first two days of the 2021 NFL Draft.