When studying the best edge rushers in the NFL Draft class of 2015, Harvard’s Zack Hodges is certainly one of the more interesting guys.
It’s not every year you have a guy from Harvard with a draftable grade, so when someone like Hodges comes along and gets invited to the Senior Bowl and starts generating day two or early day three talk, you have to go look at the tape and see exactly what this kid is about.
Athletically, Hodges doesn’t appear to be anything special, but his skill set indicates otherwise.
Strengths
The common term for a player like Hodges is ‘tweener’ and that can be both a strength and a detriment. On the strength side of things, Hodges is a versatile player who can move around the defensive formation and rush from the right side, the left side, as a blitzing linebacker, and he can also drop into coverage when asked.
As far as speed goes, Hodges is pretty darn solid for a defensive end, running a sub-4.7 second 40-yard dash at the Combine. That number stands up pretty well also against pass rushing outside linebackers, but it’s going to be the explosiveness in a short area that help Hodges in the NFL, not his long speed.
Hodges is quick off the ball, but you see different things against different styles of offense. When Harvard plays against Holy Cross — an option-read style of offense — it’s not necessarily Hodges’ cup of tea, but we’ll get into that later on.
When Harvard plays Lafayette, Hodges looks at home, killing offensive tackles off the snap and putting them on their heels with quickness off the ball.
What I like about Hodges is the different ways he is able to get pressure on the quarterback. He uses quickness to get around the edge and complete the circle to get to the quarterback. He has good suddenness and change of direction with his speed-to-power moves. He has a nice spin move that needs some seasoning, but it works when he uses it.
This is an explosive athlete who gets upfield in a hurry. He has natural pass rush abilities and should be even more productive as a pro in the right scheme than he was at Harvard.
Weaknesses
At this point, even against lesser competition, Hodges needs work in his ability to hold his ground against the run. When offensive tackles engage him and he doesn’t know what to expect (like against the read-option) he gets on his heels and is completely erased from the play.
This game in particular, you notice what happens when Hodges isn’t quite sure what’s coming. This was, overall, a pretty bad game tape for him I thought, at least in terms of doing what he does best, which is getting after the quarterback. That said, there wasn’t much opportunity to do so, because this team ran the ball a lot. Hodges isn’t big enough to be an anchor against the run, and when teams ran away from him, he was almost completely invisible on the tape.
Scouts have also complained that Hodges isn’t physical enough. While I don’t know if my sample size is large enough to determine that for sure, you can see sometimes he doesn’t use his hands as well as he could, and is able to get to the quarterback due to pure athleticism and speed.
NFL Scheme Fit
I think Hodges is best suited to a rush linebacker role, or if a 4-3 team takes him, he needs to put on weight and become a rotational end that comes in and simply rushes the quarterback.
NFL Player Comparison
I think the best we could possibly see from Hodges would for him to come in and be like Elvis Dumervil, who wins with long arms and speed. Despite the fact that Dumervil is not the biggest end/edge rusher, he has extremely long arms and is able to beat guys with speed around the edge as well as his length.
Hodges has that potential.
Round Projection/Rookie Impact
I think we’ll see Hodges ultimately drop to day three, and there, he will be a fantastic value pick. He is raw in certain areas, but he’s also really got some nice upside. I would think any team that needs depth in their pass rush would take a look at this guy, and he could develop into an even better pro than he was a college player.
Prospect Video from Draft Breakdown
Next: Mock Draft Update WITH TRADES
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