2020 NFL Draft: Florida EDGE Jonathan Greenard scouting report

A 2020 NFL Draft scouting report for University of Florida edge defender Jonathan Greenard.

After a lengthy college career that started at the University of Louisville, Jonathan Greenard, now at the University of Florida is ready to make his mark in the NFL. While most of the discussion around the edge of the 2020 NFL Draft is centered towards guys like Chase Young and A.J. Epenesa, Greenard has quietly been making a name for himself. As one of the better edge defenders in the 2020 NFL Draft, Greenard has some fairly impressive film overall.

Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 263 pounds
Career Stats (33 Career Games): 123 total tackles, 38.5 TFLs, 19.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles
2019 Season Stats (11 Games): 53 total tackles, 16.0 TFLs, 10 sacks, 3 forced fumbles
Games Watched: 2019: Missouri, Florida State, Miami, Virginia (Orange Bowl)

Strengths

Greenard’s biggest strength as a player is his great burst off of the LOS, as soon as the ball snaps he’s gone and into his ark. He does a good job of not wasting too many steps, using his great length to cover a lot of ground fairly quickly.  Once at the top of his ark, Greenard displays an ability to flatten his hips to create a sufficient amount of bend. Furthermore, he plays with good effort although I wouldn’t quite categorize him as having a particularly high motor.

While his hand moves could be branched out a bit more, Greenard works well with his uses of rips and swat moves. Lastly, Greenard shows good lateral quickness on film, changing direction to go make plays on the ball.

Weaknesses

Greenard’s main issues stem from his injury history over the course of his five-year career between Louisville and Florida. In the first game of his junior year with the Cardinals, he suffered a season-ending wrist injury on his first defensive series of the game. In his lone season at Florida, Greenard dealt with a nagging ankle injury that caused him to come out multiple times during the Orange Bowl.

Outside of injury, Greenard doesn’t possess the requisite lower-body strength that would allow him to successfully get leverage on opponents, which hurts his effectiveness vs the run. Additionally, Greenard will at points seem to lose steam at the top of his arks and get pushed aside.

Best Film: Virginia (Orange Bowl)
Worst Film: Missouri
Best Trait: Burst
Worst Trait: Injury History
Grade: Mid Second Round
Pro Comparison: Matthew Judon

Summary

Overall, Jonathan Greenard is one of the more twitched up edge prospects in the 2020 NFL Draft class who can fit ideally into a 3-4 defensive scheme. In 2019, Greenard led the SEC in sacks and was named a first-team All-SEC and first-team All American. While his injuries held him back a little, Greenard still made quite the impact for the Gators this season.

On film, he displays the proper burst and had movements to make him a quality starter at the professional level. While injuries may linger throughout his career, and he’ll have to work on keeping his motor consistent, Greenard looks and plays the part of an NFL outside linebacker. Look for Greenard to hear his name called in the earlier half of Day 2 during the 2020 NFL Draft.