2014 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Anthony Barr, DE/OLB, UCLA Bruins

Dec 27, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins linebacker Anthony Barr (11) against the Baylor Bears in the 2012 Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. Baylor defeated UCLA 49-26. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

Height: 6’4″

Weight: 245 pounds

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Scouting Report/Player Notes

If you just saw Anthony Barr in 2012, you’d have thought he was a rush linebacker his whole life the way he played. That’s not the case, however. The All-Pac 12 rush linebacker was a running back/”f”-back leading up to the 2012 season, where he switched to the defensive side of the ball in the Spring. Leading into his senior season, he has 25 career starts, 11 of which came on the offensive side of the ball. I don’t exactly know why Barr moved to the defensive side of the ball, but that was a choice that made him millions upon millions of dollars.

As a junior, Barr had one of the most dominant individual performances defensively in college football, racking up 82 tackles, 13 sacks, 21 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, five passes broken up, and a blocked kick. As an NFL prospect, scouts are drooling about his potential as a joker linebacker or rush linebacker in a 3-4 defensive scheme. His versatility will make him an even more attractive prospect to NFL teams, and you can see just watching a few UCLA games that they literally use him all over the field in every situation.

Barr’s biggest weakness at this point is his listed size. I’m sure he’s grown over the offseason a bit, but at 6’4″ 245 pounds, he is on the lighter side for a front seven player. If he can add 10-15 pounds of muscle and put up solid numbers in his senior season, I definitely think this is a guy who could go in the top five or 10 picks. He is an explosive pass rusher and just knows how to make plays behind the line of scrimmage, really all over the field. Certainly, this is one of the elite players in all of college football right now, and if he continues to progress at the rate he did last year, he is going to be one of the best defensive players in the NFL before too long.

Career Highlights (via UCLA athletics site)

UCLA – Shifted to linebacker in the spring of 2012 after working as a running back, pistol f-back in his first two seasons … Became one of the top performning linebackers in the nation during the 2012 season … A fine all-around athlete with 25 career starts, 14 on defense.

2012 – Started at outside linebacker in all 14 games … Named to the Associated Press second-team All-America team … First-team All-Pac-12 selection by the coaches … Collegefootballnews.com’s P12 Defensive Player of the Year … Led the team in sacks (13.5) and tackles for loss (21.5) … Second on the team in tackles (83) … Ranked eighth in the nation in sacks/g average (0.96) and T-12th in the nation in tackles for loss/g average (1.54) … His sack total was second in the nation behind Jarvis Jones of Georgia, who had 14.5 … His tackles for loss total was tied for fourth in the nation … His averages were ranked third in the Pac-12 in each category … Had three tackles for loss in games against Oregon State and at Washington State … Had six games with at least seven tackles, with high of nine stops vs. Stanford and vs. Baylor … Had at least 0.5 TFL in each game played … His total of 13.5 sacks ranks second on UCLA’s all-time single-season list … His total of 21.5 tackles for loss ranks fourth on that school single-season list … Honorable mention all-conference academic team selection.

2011 – Appeared in 12 games, with seven starts at f-back … Also saw action on special teams … Caught one pass at Houston for 11 yards and a touchdown … Ran twice against San Jose State for 12 yards … One rush against Texas (2) … One rushing attempt for a one-yard score at Oregon State … Did not see action at Stanford or against Washington State and at Arizona … Caught one pass against Arizona State (3) … Two rushing attempts at Utah for seven yards … Had one rush for one yard at USC … One rush for two yards in Pac-12 Championship Game at Oregon … Named to the Pac-12 All-Academic second-team.

2010 – Saw action in all 12 games with four starts … Came off the bench at Kansas State to make one reception (5 yds) and rush once (1) … Made two receptions (12) against Stanford … Played versus Houston … Made one reception (5) and some key blocks at Texas … Carried once (6) versus Washington State … At Cal, he had one run (3) but strained his left calf in the first quarter and did not return … Made his first career start at Oregon and had one catch (17) … Started versus Arizona and made one reception (6) … Came off the bench versus Oregon State and ran twice for a total of 10 yards, including one for 12 yards … Started at Washington and made one reception (6) … Started and made two catches for 15 yards at Arizona State … Saw action against USC … Offensive winner of UCLA’s John Boncheff, Jr. Memorial Award for Rookie of the Year.

Stats

Anthony Barr defensive stats via CFBStats.com

Video Highlights (via YouTube)