Linval Joseph Scouting Report

Even after Skip Holtz left East Carolina to become the head coach at USF, most expected Linval Joseph to stay at ECU for his senior year. But the coaching change did have an impact on his decision to head for the NFL. Joseph was a first-team All-Conference USA honoree after tallying 60 tackles, 13.0 tackles-for-loss and 3.0 sacks during his junior campaign, but he has been a productive member of the Pirates' front four for three years. Even as a freshman he made four starts and totaled 40 tackles. There is no doubt that Joseph is strong, but he does not always utilize that strength on the football field. He often plays too high at the point of attack and can be outmatched physically despite his strength. Joseph is also not the quickest tackle around, especially latterly. However, he can chase down quarterbacks who are not very elusive and will use his girth to break double teams and get into the backfield to stuff the run. Most NFL teams will look at Joseph and think they can fix his technique problems. And maybe they can. If so, Joseph is a quality tackle for a player who should be around for the fourth or fifth round. Yet, his other issue is conditioning and Joseph will not be able to play every down any time soon in the NFL. Those issues should slide him down most draft boards, but somebody will like his pure skills and take him in the third or fourth round.