Ricky Sapp Scouting Report

Last year the Clemson defense was often overshadowed by the offense, no matter how disappointing it ended up being. Ricky Sapp has continued to produce for the Tigers. In 2006, the 6-4 defensive end ranked second on the team in sacks behind Gaines Adams; that was as a freshman with limited playing time. In 2007, Sapp continued to develop into a solid pass rusher from Clemson's bandit end position. During the 2008 campaign Sapp tallied ten tackles-for-loss, two sacks and 28 total tackles. Those lackluster numbers kept Sapp in college for his senior season despite early indications that he would be ready for the NFL after his junior campaign. There were some injury issues last year that kept his numbers down and he is already proving to be more productive during the 2009 season. Through five games he has already nearly equaled his tackles and tackles-for-loss numbers and has matched his two sacks of a season ago. Sapp still has some work to do to get on the national radar, but he is a talented pass rusher at times and has the potential to be a very good player in the NFL. If he can keep up his production during the 2009 collegiate season, there is little reason to think that Sapp cannot be a second or third round selection. 1/17 Update: Sapp continued to be relatively productive throughout his senior campaign and ended the year with 60 tackles, 15 tackles-for-loss and 5 sacks. His best effort late in the year came in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game against Georgia Tech whe he tallied six tackles and one tackle-for-loss. Sapp will still need to test out well at the NFL Combine if he wants to sneak into the first round, but he should still be a second round selection at the least. 3/1 Update: Sapp is one of those defensive ends that projects quite well as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. As an outside linebacker, he is quickly moving up draft boards after proving to scouts that he has the skills to play that position. His instincts and relative quickness make him an intriguing option as an outside linebacker and he has snuck into the first round for now.