Matt Waldman’s RSP Boiler Room examines the edge play of DE Jonathan Garvin against FSU and discovers that Garvin has the potential to unlock his game and become a consistently disruptive force.
Scouts are always looking for defensive ends and outside linebackers who have the ankle flexion and hips to bend the edge and reach the quarterback. If an edge rusher has the explosion and bend, he’s halfway there.
Hurricanes defensive end Jonathan Garvin has the first-step (and the second and third when talking about acceleration), he can bend the edge with good flexion in his lower body, and he can earn separation from opposing tackles with a rip of his inside hand. The tools are there, but the refined navigation is not.
In this week’s RSP Boiler Room, we’re going to examine several edge rushes from Garvin in 2018 against Florida State’s right tackle, who opens his hips too early on a consistent basis. These are snaps where the tackle is giving Garvin the lane to the quarterback, but Garvin’s rush trajectory takes him one step too deep, too often.
I explain how Garvin can mitigate this problem with his hand usage and his step width and the direction of his toes. Then I’ll show you what happens when he makes one of these adjustments during the game.
If Garvin can become a better initiator of contact to set up his rushes, he has the athletic ability to become a disruptive force that will require consistent double teams. Right now, he’s one step away.
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