Greg Rousseau one of CFB most anticipated players in 2020

Miami Hurricanes defensive end Greg Rousseau leads college football returning players with 15.5 sacks in 2019. Rosseau should be one of the most anticipated players in college football in 2020.

Miami Hurricanes defensive end Greg Rousseau had a breakout season as a redshirt freshman in 2019 with 19.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks. With Quincy Roche joining the Miami football program from Temple, the Hurricanes will arguably have the nation’s two best pass rushers in 2020.

Roche was the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 2019. Greg Rousseau was the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year last season. Rousseau is one of the most anticipated players in the country entering the 2020 season. His remarkable breakout season in 2019 brought national attention.

Coming off season-ending ankle surgery as a true freshman in 2018, Greg Rousseau was brought along slowly to begin the season. Rosseau started only seven games during his impressive campaign. Playing in all 13 games in 2019, Rousseau had a TFL and sack in nine games. His first breakout performance came against Virginia.

Playing on ESPN on Friday night with the whole country watching, Rousseau recorded seven tackles, two TFLs and a sack as Miami upset the 20th ranked Cavaliers 17-9 at Hard Rock Stadium. Two weeks later against Pittsburgh Rousseau showed his true dominance with seven tackles, three TFLs and three sacks.

Rousseau topped that performance a week later at Florida State. As part of a dominant performance by the Miami defense line, Rousseau recorded eight tackles, five TFLs and four sacks in a 27-10 Miami victory in Tallahassee. In back to back weeks, 15 tackles, eight TFLs and seven sacks brought Rousseau national attention.

"Gregory Rousseau, defensive end, MiamiThe next man up as the nation’s elite pass rusher finished second only to Chase Young last season in sacks.Miami defensive end Gregory Rousseau is expected to be selected in the top 10 of the 2021 NFL Draft and could potentially lift Miami into contention in the ACC by leading the Hurricanes’ defense.Rousseau is weakest against the run, says Miami coach Manny Diaz, so he will need to improve as a tackler this season if he wants to increase his double-digit sack numbers (15.5) last season. The two are connected, and the more he improves against the run, the better he will be rushing the passer.“Greg knows that he did a lot of good things this past year, but there’s some big improvements that he needs to make in his game to really become the guy that we want him to be and Greg knows it,” Diaz says.“That’s the best thing about Greg is he’s a better person even than he is as a player. But we went through and we showed him some cut-ups from this year, and some different ways he can improve his game, not just to help next April, but to help the Miami Hurricanes September-January.”"

The above came from 247Sports.Com as part of an article by Brandon Marcello naming the “The players we’re most looking forward to seeing in preseason.” Marcello stated that the players on hist list are not necessarily the best players in the country, but the players that essentially intrigue him the most.

Although Rousseau is high on most draft boards, he is still two years removed from being a three-star signee out of high school. The skepticism is understandably there from those who did not see every Miami game during the 2019 season. After his breakout performance against Virginia, Rousseau hit lulls in the schedule.

Rousseau did not record a sack against Georgia Tech, Louisville, or FIU. Rousseau did contribute five tackles against the Panthers. Roche and redshirt junior Jaelan Phillips who was the top signee in the Class of 2017 also on the Miami roster as an edge rusher, double-teaming Rousseau will not be an option in 2020.

The inability for teams to send two blockers at Rousseau, Roche, or Phillips makes the potential for the Miami pass rush immeasurable. After finishing seventh in the FBS with 46 sacks last season, the Hurricanes should be top five in 2020. Miami has an excellent chance to break the program record of 52 sacks set in 1989.