Penn State EDGE Yetur Gross-Matos declares for the 2020 NFL Draft

Penn State edge rusher Yetur Gross-Matos will forgo his senior season and enter the 2020 NFL draft class.

As a true junior, Penn State edge rusher Yetur Gross-Matos still had a year of college eligibility. However, he will forgo that final year and make the jump to the league by entering the 2020 NFL draft class. Gross-Matos announced his decision on Twitter on Tuesday.

While this will be his final college season, Gross-Matos did mention his intention to suit up for Penn State one more time. He will play in the Penn State bowl game to end the season.

Gross-Matos enters the 2020 NFL draft class as one of the most interesting defensive prospects. He is an extremely active and athletic rusher who has massive upside at the next level. Gross-Matos is a bit of a raw prospect who certainly needs some development in the NFL to reach his ceiling. That being said, his raw skill-set and overall ability give him a massive ceiling.

At the moment, I would call Gross-Matos a likely first-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. Besides fellow Big Ten defensive ends Chase Young and A.J. Epenesa, there is not an edge rusher who is clearly ahead of Gross-Matos. In fact, with a strong performance in the combine, I could see Gross-Matos locking up the third edge rusher spot quickly and cementing his status as a first-round selection.

Through 10 games this season, Gross-Matos has 39 total tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks. He has never been a consistently dominant defender at Penn State, but the tools are there for him to be a star at the next level.

NFL teams are going to fall in love with his combination of length and athleticism on the edge. Add in Gross-Matos’ high motor and you have an exciting defensive prospect who can be a legitimate game-changer up front.

We have a long way to go before we know where Gross-Matos ends up but adding him to the 2020 NFL Draft significantly deepens the class at an important position.