2021 NFL Draft: Christian Barmore scouting profile
By Efan Willis
2021 NFL Draft hopeful and Alabama star defensive lineman Christian Barmore played his high school football in Philadelphia and was touted as the second-best prospect in Pennsylvania by his senior year.
It was only a matter of time, then, until in-state school Temple came knocking on his door. Barmore initially committed to the Owls’ program, but after scholarship offers from some of the best schools in the country, including LSU, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, the 4-star recruit instead opted to take his talents to Tuscaloosa.
The pass-rusher endured a slow start to his collegiate career. After redshirting his freshman year, and picking up a knee injury in training camp that forced him to miss the first game of the following season, Barmore only managed to fill a rotational role on Nick Saban’s defensive front during the Crimson Tide’s 2019 campaign.
Despite a limited number of snaps, he was still able to be an effective disruptor in the passing game, amassing a total of 26 tackles and 2.0 sacks.
Barmore enjoyed his most productive football last season, notching an impressive 8.0 sacks (tying him for 5th at his position and 13th overall) and 37 total tackles, with most of his best snaps coming during the postseason. His play in the National Championship game even earned him defensive MVP honors.
As the 2021 NFL Draft edges nearer, I decided to check the tape and see how his skillset might stack up at the next level. Here’s what I found:
Christian Barmore, IDL, Alabama (R-SO).
Strengths: One of Barmore’s most noticeable strengths on the field is his power at the point of contact. He uses all of his 6’5″, 310-pound frame to initiate contact with his blocker(s) and drive them back into the pocket.
He has strong hands that allow him to effectively create an imbalance in his matchup’s stance and can utilize his upper body strength to absorb counter punches and fight off blocks.
Although Barmore failed to show off a diverse repertoire of pass rush moves, he did employ an extremely efficient swim move that he used to punish overzealous blockers and fly into the backfield. What also served him well was his long arm move, which, due to his raw power, allowed him to still win leverage battles and compensate for sometimes imperfect footwork or pad level position.
His versatility along the defensive front will also serve him well in the NFL. Barmore lined up in 1-technique (usually to the strong side), 3-technique, 4T, and 4i at Alabama, and found ways to be productive wherever he lined up. NFL teams love linemen with positional flexibility, meaning Barmore’s multi-gap potential will be a valuable asset at the next level.
His motor is remarkable. You’ll never see him give up on a live ball, even when the ball is well past the line of scrimmage, and his relentless work ethic on the practice field is also noteworthy. He epitomizes the phrase “play to the whistle.”
Weaknesses: Although Barmore has made a strong case for being DL1 in the 2021 NFL Draft, there are still some technical weaknesses that show on tape. The most obvious is his tendency to engage with blockers without lowering his pad level.
Leverage beats power, and being too vertical at the point of contact means that his matchups can neutralize his most valuable asset – his power – by having a lower pad level, and thus winning the leverage battle.
Barmore lacks explosion out of the snap, which means he sometimes finds himself engaging an anchored blocker that’s prepared to meet him. He often made up for this lack of explosiveness with his abundance of power in college, but this may give him trouble in the NFL, where he won’t be able to rely on his strength to compensate as much.
His heavy footwork can also lead to him taking himself out of run plays; by being too slow to match the flow of his designated gap on a run, he isn’t able to make a play on the ballcarrier in the backfield.
Scheme fit: I believe Barmore would be most effective at the next level as an every-down 3-technique in a base 4-3.
Team fit: We could see Barmore go as high as no. 14 to the Minnesota Vikings, who will desperately need a complementary pass-rush piece to Danielle Hunter come next season.
The Raiders (no. 17), Jaguars (No. 25), and Saints (no. 28) could also look to bolster their interior defensive line come Draft night. Wherever he goes, I find it highly unlikely that we’ll see Christian Barmore fall into Day 2.