College: Arizona State
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 250 pounds
Positives
Quickness/Explosion: Bradford is a weight room warrior and it shows up on the field. He flashes out of his stance and attacks lineman before they have much of a chance to set up. This advantage allows Bradford to occasionally win on the edge solely with his athleticism. Although, such traits appear when in space too, not just when pass rushing. As a run defender or when chasing players down, Bradford’s closing speed saved a number of plays and enables him to tackle with violent force. Mobile quarterbacks, such as Cam Newton and Russell Wilson, may still have issues evading Bradford due to his incredible ability to chase and close.
Run Defending Ability: Again, Bradford’s athleticism makes him a menacing defender. Bradford’s 400-pound power clean is evident when he takes on blocks at the point of attack. Even against some of the bigger, stronger linemen, Bradford holds his ground and is seldom washed out of a given play. In fact, he has the raw strength to stack and shed multiple linemen, then proceed to hunt down the ball carrier. At outside linebacker, Bradford will be valuable as an edge setter that forces running backs back inside. If they dare to test him outside, Bradford has all the tools to chase him down and end the play before it gets out of hand.
Negatives
Hand Usage: As of now, Bradford does not have any sort of technique when pass rushing head on. He simply tries to run through offensive tackle, but he has not yet figured out how to convert speed to power. If one can not do that, they must be able to win with their hand usage and scrappiness, but Bradford can not do that either. His hands lay dormant within the opposing lineman’s frame. This makes the lineman's job much easier, being that they have to do little more than stand in front of him and keep upright. Without an arsenal of pass rushing moves, Bradford may struggle finding a starting spot in the league, especially considering he has short arms (just over 30 inches).
Bending the Edge: When bending the edge as a pass rusher, Bradford is often unsuccessful. Despite having the numbers in the weight room and showing the translation through his explosion, Bradford struggles being able to power through lineman around the arch. Likewise, he has issues keeping his balance, due in part to tackles being able to quite easily throw him down due to his lack of leg drive. Without an effective ability to bend the edge and a lack of pass rushing moves, Bradford wins solely off of athleticism. Although, few players are able to constantly win just with athleticism, and such players are elite athletes, which Bradford does not have the build for.
NFL Comparison: Jarvis Jones, Pittsburgh Steelers
Bradford may be a stronger, but stylistically, Bradford and Jones are quite similar. Much like Bradford, Jones wins through athleticism and being able to thrive off of broken plays. As prospects, both were box score heroes, but do not translate well to the next level due to frame and lack of technique.
Draft Outlook
Based solely on his athleticism, Bradford has the potential to go as high as the third round, but due to his mediocre frame and lack of technique, it is likely that he ends up in the fourth or fifth round. From there, teams will be able to let him be groomed and come into his own, if he ever even does. Realistically, at best, Bradford becomes a mediocre pass rusher that has the ability to be an efficient run defender and thrive off of what others around him have created.
Best Fits
If the Green Bay Packers are looking to add depth at outside linebacker and add another solid run defender, Carl Bradford may be their answer. He will certainly not be forced into a starting role, but can be used as a situational player, if need be.
Bradford’s arm length may honestly force him to inside linebacker. Few teams have the insurance and extra picks to conduct such experiment. Luckily, the San Francisco 49ers do and they could snag him as another experimental depth player. In their case, if he does not work out, no harm done. If it does work out, they added a solid linebacker than can play a multitude of positions.