2015 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Eli Harold

By Ian Wharton on Monday, February 2nd 2015
2015 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Eli Harold

Name: Eli Harold

College: Virginia

Class: Junior

Position: Edge Rusher

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 235

 

Background/Character
Leadership: 9 Experience: 8 Off-the-Field: 9
Mental Capacity: 8 Mental Toughness: 9 Durability: 9

Eli Harold overcame tragedy in his life when he was a teenager, and he turned to football to help him stay focused and succeed. He loves the game, and is fully dedicated. He has no off-the-field concerns, and made huge jumps through his career in terms of improvement. Harold had zero reported injuries while at Virginia.

Final Grade: 8.66

 

Athleticism
Balance: 9 C.O.D: 10 Explosiveness: 9
Flexibility: 9 Coordination: 10 Body Type: 9

Harold is an excellent edge athlete with his combination of quickness, closing speed and length. He has very good natural strength with his upper body and hands. His ability to knock the blocker off balance and then zoom around or inside is his key to winning. He does so frequently because of his smoothness in his movements. His frame could use 15-20 more pounds of mass to enhance his profile as a run defender.

Final Grade: 9.33

 

Overall
Football IQ: 8 Tackling: 8 Motor: 10
Aggressiveness: 9 Initial Quicks: 9 Stamina: 10

Although Harold is smart on the field and off, he will let his aggressiveness get the best of him at times. When put in space to read the ball, he will over pursue at times. This could stem from the scheme. Harold played over 90 percent of all snaps in 2014. His ability to be effective despite such high snap counts is highly impressive and a testament to his level of fitness and work ethic.

Final Grade: 9

 

Run Defense
Range: 9 Pursuit: 8 Positioning: 7
Read/React: 8 Block Shedding: 9 Hole Clogging: 7

With Harold’s frame, he needs to add more weight to be a more effective run blocker. His upper body is solid, but his lower body is lacking the ability to drive and stay in his hole. Nonetheless, he excels at shedding blocks with his hands because of his powerful hands and great placement. Harold does struggle reading the read option, but this could be a schematic limitation, too.

Final Grade: 8

 

Pass Defense
Vision: 8 Rip/Swim Rush: 8 Bull Rush: 9
Counter Rush: 9 Edge Quickness: 9 Vs. Doubles: 7

For being a relatively inexperienced player, Harold has some elite pass rush flashes throughout his tape. He’s able to convert his plus speed into power with ease. The special move that Harold uses is something like a Euro-step in basketball. He will exaggerate one step inside or out, then cut the opposite direction to blow past the lineman. He gets the blocker off balance so well using a variety of moves. This is a special talent.

Final Grade: 8.33

 

Player Comparison: Aldon Smith
Projected Draft Position: 1st Round
Best Scheme Fit: 3-4 Edge, 4-3 DE
Injury History: None
Career Accolades: Second-Team All-ACC in 2014
Career Stats: 141 tackles, 17.5 sacks, 36.5 TFLs

 

Final Analysis

A relative unknown at the start of the 2014 season due to his relative youth and low profile, Eli Harold proved throughout the year that he is a major talent to be accounted for. The long and lanky edge rusher checks all of the boxes that most teams will be looking for at the position. He can play in either a 3-4 or 4-3, although he’s more effective standing up right now.

Harold is a high-character player with great physical upside to improve as he adds strength. He uses his powerful hands well, jarring tackles and knocking them off balance, then reading how he can pressure the quarterback instantaneously.

Considering that Harold needs to add significant weight, he may not be a huge impact player until Year 2, but his ceiling is very high, and at least can offer a strong, quick pass rusher.

 

Final Grade: 8.83 - 1st round value

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