The 2020 NFL Draft will be a great event for teams to start building for their future. Here is the Yetur Gross-Matos 2020 NFL Draft profile.
Position: Edge Rusher
Size: 6-foot-5, 264 pounds
Class: Junior
2019 stats: 40 total tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 9.0 sacks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ajItN2qRM
Gross-Matos came into Penn State as a four-star recruit and ended up developing into a good edge defender for the Nittany Lions. After three seasons, Gross-Matos has put himself in a position to be one of the top pass rushers selected.
As a freshman, Gross-Matos was a reserve who finished the season with two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Penn State won 11 games including the Fiesta Bowl over Washington that season. In 2018, when Gross-Matos was a sophomore, he registered 20 tackles for loss and eight sacks as a starter. The Nittany Lions won nine games, but lost in the Citrus Bowl to Kentucky. This season, Gross-Matos totaled 14.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks, as Penn State secured 11 victories with a win over Memphis in the Cotton Bowl.
After two years as a starter and three seasons overall, Gross-Matos has decided to make the jump to the pro level. He is currently projected to be selected late in the first round or early in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Yetur Gross-Matos
While edge rushers don’t get much fame from stopping the run, Gross-Matos is great in run defense. He can disengage blockers at a decent rate and once he does he is really gifted at chasing the ball carrier down. Gross-Matos is a talented tackler to finish the play.
Gross-Matos has the prototypical size and frame of an NFL edge rusher. At 6-foot-5 and 264 pounds, he won’t be easy for offensive linemen to block. To go with his size, he also has solid length, which should help him win one on one battles.
He has solid burst at the line of scrimmage, which helps him be explosive. When he does this, he can win the initial battle with an offensive lineman due to the amount of speed and power he can generate. A lot of times on his productive plays, Gross-Matos wins very early on in the play.
He is a decent pass rusher, but Gross-Matos needs to add more moves to his arsenal in order to improve and be productive at the NFL level. If he can a few solid go-to moves, he will be much harder to prepare for. He also needs to work on his counter moves, as offensive linemen who win the initial battle with him in a snap, usually keep it that way the rest of the play.
Gross-Matos also could work on his awareness. He is sometimes fooled by misdirections and screens, which results in big plays for opponents. If he works on his awareness and football IQ, his team’s defense should improve.
His technique also needs to be refined. He can work on his hand placements and the power that is generated when getting into a lineman’s shoulder pads. Gross-Matos also needs to get his pad level down on a consistent basis. Doing both of these things will help him reach his full potential.
Projected Draft Range: First Round Pick-Second Round Pick
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