Robert Quinn- 2011 Draft Scouting Report

North Carolina defensive end Robert Quinn might be the most overrated prospect of the draft. From what I have seen, I don’t think he is going to do anything in the NFL. It has been pretty tough to scout him.

Robert Quinn is a physical monster with all the tools to succeed in the NFL. He has excellent height, good bulk (268), and excellent speed (4.64 40 yard dash), that could allow him to be a monster in the NFL. But he really lacks strength, and he appears to have short arms for his size, making it difficult for him to use his hands well to get to the quarterback.

Quinn has pretty good quickness off the ball and uses pretty effective fundamentals with the speed rush. However, from what I have seen, he has pretty poor instincts and is often caught out of position on misdirections and on play actions.

Quinn has awful character. When I read about him becoming permanently ineligible, I got pretty ticked off about the story. It’s one thing to do these bad things, which is of pretty low morale and kind of stupid, but it became a lot worse when I read that what got him permanently ineligible was his constant denial of the crimes. Apparently, the NCAA had overwhelming evidence against him and they gave him many chances to admit his guilt, but he just wouldn’t do it, and the constant lying made the NCAA do the permanent suspension. But he battled back from brain surgery in high that doctors said could end his career, and he plays with decent on field intensity.

Quinn is a pretty effective tackler. He wraps up, he uses excellent tackling fundamentals in the open field, and he has good lower body strength at the point of attack. He also displays a strong initial punch off the line.

Quinn isn’t very adept with any pass rush moves at all. All I see from him is speed rush after speed rush after speed rush. He will need to learn how to use his hands better if he wants to have success in the NFL.

My main issue with Quinn is his stats. At first glance, his stats appear to be great; 52 tackles, 11 sacks Sophomore year. But let’s take a closer look. Let’s divide the stats from all of the North Carolina games last year based on the strength of the teams Quinn played against. Against The Citadel, East Carolina, Virginia, Georgia Southern, Duke, Boston College, and North Carolina State (7 games), he got ALL of his 11 sacks and 33 of his tackles; against Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Florida State, Miami, Connecticut, and Georgia Tech (6 games), he got a mere 19 tackles and 0 sacks! That is a staggering dispersion of stats between teams he played! He made absolutely no impact in games against good teams, yet he dominated against bad teams.

Overall, I am not very high on Quinn because of his lack of success against the decent FBS teams. The fact is, North Carolina had a pretty easy out of conference schedule last year, and he played in the ACC to boot. If he played in the SEC or the Big Ten, I don’t think he would be generating much buzz at all for next year’s draft, and he would be a mid first rounder at best. But there is one big thing I will admit; I have an extremely clouded opinion of Quinn. I can only get game film against bigger teams. Games against the Citadel and Virginia are never aired on TV. In the five games I have seen Quinn play in (all the games against stronger competition listed above, excluding Georgia Tech), I haven’t seen him get over 3 tackles or a sack in a game. And let’s be honest; if you had scouted a defensive end in five games, never see him get a sack or over 3 tackles in a single game, and you’re told he will be a top 10 NFL draft pick, would you think he is overrated? Absolutely!

NFL Comparison: Vernon Gholston. They have similar skills sets, and Gholston took over the Big Ten in one of its worst years. The Big Ten has improved, and now Quinn is dominating a pretty bad ACC conference. The outlook doesn’t seem promising.

Grade: 90 (worthy of a late first or early second round pick)

Projection: 96 (will be draft early to mid-first round)