Myles Garrett NFL Draft 2017 profile: Highlights, measurables, scouting report

If you follow college football, chances are you’re well aware of the name Myles Garrett. Garrett’s been a terror for the Texas A&M Aggies the past few seasons, coming off the edge and disrupting quarterbacks and making their lives miserable. The Aggies edge rusher is now primed for a star-studded pro career and could wind up being the No. 1 overall pick when the 2017 NFL Draft rolls around in the next few weeks.

So just what, exactly, makes Garrett so good?

Rush The Quarterback

Garrett’s biggest strength coming out of college is his ability to get to the QB. He is extremely explosive coming off the edge and a great athlete to say the very least. Garrett racked up 31 sacks in his three-year career in College Station, 11 coming in his freshman season and 11.5 the following year. He has an assembly of pass rush maneuvers that will likely make him successful at the next level if he’s able to make them useful, and the fact that he has certainly played against his fair share of competition in the SEC can only boost his confidence once he eventually hits the next level.

What’s the knock?

Garrett’s effort seemed to come in question a few times during the season. SB Nation’s Stephen White took this point to task in his draft profile of Garrett last month:

Garrett doesn't have the greatest motor in the world.

That's probably an understatement.

In all but one of the games that I watched, the Auburn game, Garrett didn't seem to always finish plays. In the UCLA game for instance, I had him with eight different plays where I thought his effort or finish on those plays was questionable. In the Alabama game I had him with five such plays. In the LSU game he had four such plays.

...

That shit was embarrassing. I don't think any top player would want to have a play like that one on film where their defensive coordinator could literally just run it back and forth and back and forth, over and over again in front of the rest of the defense to give them a visual example of what is not acceptable effort from a dude who is supposed to be the best player in the draft. I never wanted to be that negative example that a coach uses as a teaching tool to show my teammates what not to do back when I played. I imagine I wasn't alone in feeling that way.

...

And I have to say that if Jadeveon Clowney's effort on tape gave draft evaluators the vapors three years ago, I'd imagine Garrett has those some folks about ready to pull their hair out at times, too.

I'm just sayin’.

Granted, his health could be put into question for that reason when it comes to whether he was efforting properly. The thoughts were parroted by other people about Garrett’s effort, so it’s worth pondering the old adage, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” when it comes to Myles’ efforts. Still, Garrett’s abilities, when he’s fully motoring, are pretty hard to deny when you’re looking at the sum of all parts. But everything goes into it, and hopefully for his sake, these issues regarding his efforts are cleaned up.

In addition, Garrett’s abilities against the run have been put into question which probably makes him less of a touted prospect then, say, Jadeveon Clowney of a few years ago, who showed versatility coming off the edge in defending the run and attacking the quarterback. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, considering how touted Clowney was from all the way back in high school. But it’s important to note that going forward, even if, as White mentioned in the aforementioned draft profile, that he may have very well been better than he was advertised against the run in his junior season.

The Verdict

Myles is the probable No. 1 pick in this year’s draft even with folks like Mitchell Trubisky of North Carolina giving him chase. The Cleveland Browns hold it in their cards as to whether or not the Aggies pass rusher will be the first player off the board, so come draft night, we’ll see if they make the play or not. Garrett is likely to have a lengthy career and wreak havoc while doing so.

If he’s not the first player off the board, I’d expect Garrett to definitely land to someone within the Top 5. A drop from that would be, all things considered, quite surprising.