Bjoern Werner, the German-born, Junior defensive end from Florida State, burst onto the scene in a big way in 2012 with his impressive 13 sacks and 18 tackles for a loss. This impressive performance has catapulted Werner’s draft stock into the top-ten and he could be a great fit for a number of teams looking for help along the defensive front.
| Ht. | Wt. | Class | Rank | Projection |
| 6'4" | 215 | Junior | 5 | First Round |
Strengths
Size: Werner is a big boy at 6’4” and 215 pounds. He could benefit from adding a couple of pounds of muscle; but his big size, combined with his explosive speed (which we’ll get to in a minute) gave tackles problems all season long. His long arms and huge hands allow him to swat down passes (seven passes broken up in 2012) on the rare occasions that he’s blocked well. Werner also does an excellent job of using his enormous hands to shake off blockers and keep them from getting inside his pads.
Speed: Werner has an explosive and dangerous first-step off the snap, which is better than I’ve seen from someone his size in a long time and easily the best first-step in this year’s draft. He’s constantly able to dip around the outside before the tackle is up and prepared to block. Right now that appears to be Werner’s only real move around the outside, so it would be nice to see him develop a swing or spin move to keep blockers on their toes. Werner also has great closing-speed when behind the line of scrimmage.
Intelligence: Werner appears to have an incredibly-high football IQ: he anticipates run or pass extremely well and is always aware of where the ball is going to be. He consistently takes good lines to the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage and gets his hands up to breakup passing lanes.
Weaknesses
Motor/Endurance: I’m very hesitant to use the word “motor” when talking about a player, because it means something different to everyone. It seems at times, particularly when facing more “elite” tackles on better teams; Werner would get frustrated (for lack of a better term) when he couldn’t get an advantageous first step and take himself out of the game. Only 3.5 of his sacks and tackles for a loss came against ranked opponents in 2012; while 14.5 TFL and 9.5 sacks came against unranked teams. He needs to do a better job of adjusting to top-level blockers and find a way to still contribute on every down, even if he can’t break into the backfield consistently.
Coverage: At 6'4", Werner definitely projects as a 4-3 pass-rushing defensive end. In the few instances he dropped back in coverage, things didn’t go well for Florida State and he doesn’t do a good job when left out in space; despite his closing speed and tackling ability behind the line of scrimmage.
Downfield Play: In addition to having problems in open space, Werner seems to have a hard time turning back downfield once breaking through the line to bring down a ball carrier. He’s very much a one-directional upfield pass-rusher.
Bottom Line
At this point, it’s hard to imagine that Werner makes it past the first six picks in April’s draft. He has a perfect combo of size, speed, athleticism and football smarts to contribute right away on almost any defense in the NFL. His long arms and big hands make him a great asset against both the running and passing games and he’ll be an even bigger threat if he can add some additional muscle. While he still has some weaknesses, they’re all things that can be fixed by good defensive coaches and we’ll definitely see Werner causing trouble for opposing quarterbacks this fall.
Video Highlights