Hamilcar Rashed Jr NFL Draft Overview
Position: Edge Defender
Height: 6’-4”
Weight: 245 pounds
School: Oregon State
2021 NFL Draft: Hamilcar Rashed Jr Player Profile
After spending the entirety of his college career with Oregon State, edge defender Hamilcar Rashed Jr is looking to take his talents to the next level in the 2021 NFL Draft. The redshirt senior is coming off a very disappointing season, recording just one quarterback hit, seven hurries, and no sacks in 372 snaps. Rashed added some weight prior to the season in an effort to improve his strength, and the plan backfired. Instead of building muscle while keeping his quickness, Rashed lost all of the quickness that made him so intriguing in 2019.
After some relatively unremarkable seasons, Rashed finally broke out during the 2019 season. Seeing the field on 649 snaps, the edge defender finished his redshirt junior season with three quarterback hits, 17 hurries, and a staggering 15 sacks. He also added another 26 run stuffs, proving that he has the potential to make plays in both phases of the game.
Strengths
- Quick player with speed that offensive linemen will struggle to match;
- Has a 15-sack season under his belt;
- Long arms allow him to keep separation between offensive lineman;
- Above-average athlete that could succeed as more of an outside linebacker;
- Solid run defender – doesn’t get pushed around in the trenches.
Weaknesses
- Relies on speed and speed alone – cannot get to the quarterback with power;
- Lost all of his quickness with added weight in 2020;
- One-trick pony that has no backup plan if his initial move fails;
- Too small to play defensive line at the NFL level and will have to learn a new position;
- Didn’t do much in college until he was older than just about everyone;
- Coming off a very disappointing 2020 season.
NFL Comparison: Dante Olson
Teams With Need at Position: San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders
Projection: 7th Round
Bottom Line on Hamilcar Rashed Jr
Hamilcar Rashed Jr had a nice college career, but it’s hard to see that success translating to the NFL level. The 6’-4”, 245-pound edge defender spent most of his time as a defensive lineman, but he won’t have the size to play that same role in the NFL. He’ll need to become more of an off-ball linebacker, which isn’t a dealbreaker on its own. Plenty of college athletes have made this transition, but most of the successful ones haven’t had all of Rashed’s other negatives.
Everything Rashed does as a pass-rusher revolves around his speed. When opposing offensive linemen shut down his first move, he’s completely out of the play. His 2019 quickness was good enough to beat college tackles consistently, but it probably won’t be good enough for NFL competition. He’ll also need to return to that weight, as adding mass in 2020 absolutely blew up in his face. Breakout age truthers will not like the fact that he only had 10 pressures before his redshirt junior season, and he ended his college career on a pretty low note.
The odds are stacked against Rashed, but there still is a chance for him to pan out at the next level. Based on the film, Rashed is an above-average athlete that has the raw physical ability to develop into a decent backup at the next level. He’s still very raw, and he’ll probably need to spend his early years on special teams. However, based on his athleticism alone, he’s easily worth a late-round dart throw with the hope that a new coaching staff can teach him some good pass-rushing moves.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
