The '06 Draft Pass Rushers:

Ray Edwards

September 04, 2005

By Fred Pasek

When the draft rolls around in April of 2006, there will be 32 teams lined up around the corner, hoping for a chance at a handful of players who will have proven themselves over the 2005 season to be pass rushers worthy of high draft picks.  Each of these players will have a “signature move”, a move they will rely on as their most effective at getting to the quarterback.  Invariably, this move has a direct correlation to the player’s physique and strengths.  DraftBoardInsider.com has taken a closer look at the best moves of some of the most likely players to fill the top of the 2006 NFL draft board.

Ray Edwards*, DE ― Purdue, 6’6”/270 lbs. [official bio]

From the beginning of the 2004 season, teams (or at least smart teams) were double-teaming Ray Edwards, the Purdue Boilermakers’ fine, junior defensive end, on passing downs. Edwards’ signature move is unusual, and when combined with a second move which he was refining at the end of the year, makes him one of the most dangerous pass rushers in the NCAA.

Edwards dropped opposing quarterbacks 8 times last year, registering a sack per game through the first five games before teams concentrated their pass blocking specifically to stop him with double teams and roll outs in the opposite direction. What makes Edwards’ pass rush so difficult to stop is that he uses a variation of the swim move that only the most athletic of players can use. When watching Edwards play, one is under the impression that he is a much lighter man than the 270 pounds he carries, and his pass rush evolves from that lightness on his feet.

In last year’s Penn State game, Coach Paterno had been using the running backs to help his young right tackle protect Zach Mills’ blind side from Edwards.  On one specific play however, the Nittany Lions wanted to run what was going to be a quick dump off into the flat, figuring the ball would be out of Mills’ hands fast enough that they wouldn’t need a second blocker on Edwards. They were wrong.

Edwards lined up two yards outside the right tackle and with the snap charged directly at his blocker. At 270 pounds, Edwards can deliver a bull rush that the tackle has to respect. As the tackle braced for the impact, Edwards put on the breaks a yard short of contact (he needs to be this close for a good reason), with his arms spread wide to his sides and his feet planted shoulder wide. From this position, it is impossible to tell if he will break right or left, so the tackle has to respect both possibilities. On this occasion, Edwards decided to take an outside route, and he slammed the tackle in the right shoulder pad with his left hand. What makes this move so unusual, is that, as he slapped the tackle to one side, he used the tackle to push off of and propel his whole body in one giant sideways hop in the opposite direction and swimming across with his right arm. Most plodding defensive linemen couldn’t pull this off, but Edwards is so light on his feet, his hop resembles a spider springing from one leaf to the next.

The moment Edwards’ feet touch the ground, he sprints straight ahead. On this play, since he got within a yard of the tackle, it left his opponent with no angle to take in order to cut him off. At this point, Edwards was two steps from the quarterback. He closed quickly, and with the tackle hanging on to his arm, he crashes down on Mills as the Penn State quarterback is drawing the ball back to begin his throw, creating a fumble.

The fact that Edwards is equally adept at going to his right or to his left from this move makes him difficult to stop, but once he perfects the spin move he was developing at the end of the year, he may become impossible to stop. Having shown his opponent the hop-swim move, he will have perfectly set him up for a spin which, like a pitcher who keeps the same motion regardless of the pitch he is throwing, Edwards can show the tackle the same first three steps, then go in one of five distinct directions. The spin to the right would look precisely like the hop to the left until the very last second. By the time the tackle recognizes it, it would be too late; having that advantage makes Edwards someone NFL teams are keeping a very close eye on.

*junior