Las Vegas Raiders Scouting Report: Defensive End Carl Nassib

What Nassib Can and Cannot Do

Can vs. the Pass

Very good get off and upfield burst with his hand in the ground as a true defensive end, his first three steps are quick and can win in pass rush with speed. Good mental processing to recognize screens and has good change of direction (COD) to factor into the play. Has a good pass rush plan in obvious passing downs and will work to swipe the offensive lineman’s hands away. He has two good pass rush moves, the most effective being an up and under with a long arm, and a good swim move that’s really effective when playing a 4 technique because he doesn’t need as much bend to take an efficient route to the QB.

Very good COD as the penetrator in line games and can take the offensive tackle with him to open up pass rush lanes by pressing up the field and cutting inside late. As the looper in line games, he has good COD and takes efficient angles to the QB. Good COD and mental processing help him recognize and cover bootlegs. Solid in coverage, he got better as the year went on and he can pick up backs out of the backfield and knows when to leave his zone and go after a scrambling quarterback. Hips loosened up and became more fluid as he took more reps in coverage.

Can vs. the Run

Uses his good swim move to avoid blocks and get penetration against the run, putting him in a good position to make a play in the backfield. With 1-gap responsibilities against zone run, he splits the blocker in half to hold his gap assignment. When slanting, combines his very good get off with a good rip move to get penetration and can make tackles with tight ends hanging on him.

Good mental processing shows up when he gets jet sweep action his way as he has good discipline to hold his responsibility by taking the sweep away before diving inside and going after the running back. Has solid play strength to get extension and shed blocks made by tight ends, wide receivers, and running backs.

Solid overall play strength shows up against gap runs when taking on pullers as a force technique, doesn’t lose ground and can shed the block and make the play. Good hustle on running plays away from him and solid pursuit as he takes deep angles. Good competitive toughness as he plays snap to whistle and turns his intensity up a notch by playing faster and more aggressive late in the game. Also, he plays with better pad level and gets off the ball even faster on the goal line.

Cannot vs. the Pass

Adequate mental processing as a pass rusher as his transition from run to pass is slow against play action, and he doesn’t recognize when chip and cut blocks are coming. Adequate and inconsistent hand placement during his bull rush makes it tough for him to get extension against offensive linemen and collapse the pocket with that move.

Doesn’t finish his pass rush moves with a violent rip, allowing offensive lineman to hang on to him without getting called for holding. Adequate athletic ability as a pass rusher as he struggles to maintain his balance and will end up on the ground when he breaks through the line, and he lacks the bend and hip mobility to run the hoop and take efficient angles to the QB off the edge. In coverage, he is adequate at backpedaling and takes a while to get to his area in zone coverage.

Cannot vs. the Run

Upfield burst comes back to haunt him against the run as he struggles to break down and make tackles for loss on running backs when he doesn’t use the swim move. Adequate and inconsistent hand placement, typically too wide and is slow which leads to minimal force behind his punch.

When slanting, he will get reached because he struggles to recognize and adapt to outside zone blocking. Against base blocks, he struggles to get extension against offensive linemen making it difficult for him to shed their blocks, and he struggles to keep his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage.

He struggles to hold his ground against down blocks in gap running schemes, especially when slanting because he isn’t able to put his foot in the ground and fight against the offensive lineman’s block. Adequate play speed keeps him from being able to make tackles in pursuit and doesn’t break down when making open-field tackles against running backs and wide receivers.