Early 2016 NFL Draft Scouting: Joshua Perry, LB, Ohio State
The Ohio State Buckeyes are not only the reigning National Champions, but they are loaded with NFL talent and could put out a historically great class of players for the 2016 NFL Draft.
As good as last year’s team was, the unit returning to defend the title in 2015 might be even better, and Urban Meyer has plenty of greatness with which to work.
Not the least of which among that large pool of talent is senior linebacker Joshua Perry, a 6-4, 252 pound third-year starter who was one of the most productive players on the Buckeyes’ defense last year. I decided to take a look at as much of Perry as I could before jumping to any conclusions, as well as reading up on what others have been saying about him. Here’s a look at one of his games from the 2014 season, which obviously doesn’t tell the whole story.
Observations
- In this game tape, Perry looks like a ‘clean up’ player, and I don’t mean like the guy baseball managers pick to come in and clean up the bases and get all the RBI. In this case, I mean a ‘clean up’ guy in the sense that he’s around for mop up duty at the end of a lot of plays, not something you necessarily want to see from your linebacker.
- Perry led the Buckeyes with 124 tackles last season, and also added 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. For his size (6-4, 252) and position (OLB) he should be playing up closer to the line of scrimmage, but he plays more of a 4-3 WLB position in the snaps you see above.
- Despite the fact that many of his snaps come from playing a 4-3 WLB or weak side nickel linebacker, Perry plays all around the formation and he does plenty of things. He doesn’t seem great at taking on and shedding blocks, though that’s something many young linebackers struggle with.
- In the NFL, I could see his best position being more of a traditional rush linebacker spot.
- Perry has really good range sideline to sideline, and is pretty solid in coverage as well. For his size, his lateral movement is good.
- I noticed a lot that he gets tied up with blockers and isn’t able to fight himself off. We mentioned that a bit earlier, but I noticed it a little bit more as the tape wore on. If an offensive lineman got his hands on Perry, he didn’t do a good enough job of getting off and making the play.
- Known as a team leader on and off the field. Sets a positive example and is exemplary in the classroom.
Overall
There’s obviously going to be plenty to like about a guy who leads a National Championship team in tackles. The question is, how did he arrive at that number? Why is he not rushing the quarterback more?
There are a lot of questions I still have about Perry’s game but this is why we call this an early look.