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Carl Nassib: NFL Draft hot takes for Penn State’s star pass rusher

By Sayre Bedinger

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Studying the box score, it’s clear to see that there’s no better pass rusher in college football than Penn State’s Carl Nassib. The chicken-and-rice-eating, 6-foot-7, former walk-on defensive end has taken the country by storm this year, and leads the nation with 10 sacks and five forced fumbles through six games.

We’re here for a hot take intervention on the Nittany Lions star, who is a player of major focus in Penn State’s prime-time matchup against Ohio State on Saturday night.

NASA didn’t see any game action in his first collegiate season, and combined for two sacks in his sophomore and junior seasons. To say he came out of nowhere would be an understatement. I’ve been excited to dive in on some study of one of the country’s best defensive players this season, a dominant pass rusher who has shown a vast array of skills in a short amount of time that are going to cause scouts to go back and take a really close look at the tape.

Here are my takes on Ryan Nassib’s brother, the guy who is currently the best sack artist in college football, which are certain to be steaming hot.

Off the ball quickness, leverage

Nassib, or as the computer continues to auto-correct me “NASA”, seems to do a really good job of getting off the football quick, and keeping his 6-foot-7 frame nice and low for good leverage.

That’s hard to stop for a college right tackle. Nassib’s quickness off the ball is one of his many great qualities, but you can see that he uses a combination of power from his lower body and strength from the core to explode up and into a really favorable position from the get-go to get after the offensive lineman.

Awareness

Not many defensive ends play with the kind of relentless pursuit and awareness we have seen from Nassib this year. This is an example of one way that he always makes himself available to the football. He doesn’t get to the quarterback here, but he doesn’t give up on the play and is opportunistic, creating a turnover for Penn State.

Creating Production For Others

This is something you’ll see probably all year from teams trying to defend Penn State, but the relentlessness of Nassib is going to create opportunities for other players on the team. Here he draws the double team from a chip of a running back, which leaves the RDE free to rush and speed by the left tackle for a sack.

Power

Not only does Nassib fire out of his four-point stance with incredible speed and quickness, but his upper body strength is impressive and he drives offensive tackles back like they are a mere sled that he has to move at the end of practice.

This clip above shows not only his ability to stack a lineman but also to shed. He gets rid of the lineman at the appropriate time, and makes the tackle for loss.

Hot Take Player Comparison

This is a really early comparison, but Nassib reminds me a little bit of Carlos Dunlap at Florida. he has great quickness off the edge, strength, is great in pursuit, and has huge upside. He has worked extremely hard to get to the point he’s at right now as a former walk-on, and looks like the best pass rusher in the country, but it’s more than that.

This guy has a pretty well-rounded game for just one year of this kind of production. He’s a senior, so it’s going to be interesting to see how NFL teams approach his evaluation. There’s really not much to look at beyond this year, but this year’s sample is absolutely awesome. He’s developed into an absolute star.

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