Trey Flowers 2015 NFL Draft scouting report

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Trey Flowers

• Position: Edge Rusher (ER)
  
• Class: Senior
  
• College: Arkansas
  
• Ht/Wt: 6'2", 266 pounds
  

Scouting Report

Trey Flowers is a shorter (6'2") edge rushing prospect with enough weight and arm length that he can be projected to play as a defensive end in a 4-3 or a rush linebacker in spite of that height. While he started a ton of games at Arkansas, there are still parts to his game that need improvement for him to be an effective pass rusher in the NFL.

Flowers plays with good functional strength. He hits linemen with a jolt at initial contact, and is rarely pushed back in the run game. He has the potential for a good bull rush, although he needs to work on shedding the block once he has a lineman backing up. His best move is a rip, used on the tackle's inside shoulder to split the tackle and guard for a pressure. Flowers has a good burst off the line straight ahead, and while he's not a fast direction changer, he has good balance and is capable of peeling off a block to tackle a running back that has moved past another lineman.

Flowers also has a knack for contorting his body under a block to tackle a running back in the backfield. While he was never a sack artist in college (18 sacks in four seasons), his 47.5 tackles for loss are an indication of how frequently Flowers defeated running plays. In both the passing game and the running game, Flowers' success is dependent on his hand usage. When his hands are actively moving, he can control a tackle, make them think, and make them susceptible to mistakes. When he forgets to use his hands, he doesn't go anywhere.

And that's the thing about Flowers' flaws: it feels like they manifest because he forgets or doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing. Is that something you can correct by teaching him a proper approach? Or has he still not developed the skills after four years at Arkansas, meaning he'll never pick it up in the pros? Take his stunts, for example: Flowers would often stunt around a defensive tackle on pass rushes, but for every great rush where he'd shoot the A gap and make a pressure, he had several long, looping approaches that went nowhere.

Grade

In Flowers, I see a somewhat scheme-limited edge rusher with starter's upside, but also with some definite limitations to his game. He'll always be more effective as a run defender than a pass rusher, and I'm concerned that some of his weaknesses might never be resolved. But if you pick him, you know you're getting a guy who's athletic enough and productive enough to slot in as a rotational edge rusher with upside. If he's picked in the third round, that doesn't sound so bad.