Everson Griffen Scouting Report

One of the most enigmatic players in the west coast, Griffen declared earlier this year his intentions to skip his senior year and enter the NFL draft. He had a very solid freshman season in 2007, posting five sacks in just seven games played. He let up a bit during his sophomore campaign when as a full time starter he notched only 4.5 sacks all year. However, he improved dramatically as a junior and finished his Trojan career with a very solid season: racking up 44 tackles and 8 sacks (led the team) and thus earning a spot in the PAC-10 All Conference Second Team squad. Good size and speed (4.68) combination. Has excellent short-area power. Uses his hands well. Is quick and agile and powerful and explosive, when he wants to. Shows the initial quickness and closing burst of an elite edge rusher. Good snap anticipation and instincts. Can be dominant at times. Major drawback is his lack of consistency. Does not always play with the intensity needed to dominate. Lack of height is also a concern; Could get engulfed at the point of attack. Lacks pure speed to run past offensive tackles. Despite his new found bulk (he put on 15 pounds this off season), he still lacks straight-line power at the point. Griffen is an elite athlete with tons of talent. The problem through his career is his lack of intensity and desire. If he posts a good pre-draft workout, he could land in the bottom stages of round one. Nevertheless, he is more of a second round prospect due to his lack consistency. He is very similar to former LSU Tiger Marcus Spears when he came out several years ago. 4/1 Update: As expected, Griffen had a great combine. He proved to be among the fastest and strongest defensive ends in this class. If it was not for questions surrounding his consistency and work ethic he would be the first end taken in the draft. Those concerns have dropped him down, but not too far. At this point he should be gone by the end of the first round unless NFL teams were really unimpressed with him during the interview processes leading up to the draft. However, there should still be one team willing to take a chance on him late in the first round because he is worth the risk.