NFL Draft Bust Watch: Nebraska’s Randy Gregory
By J.P. Scott
Nebraska’s Randy Gregory is projected as a top-five pick in May’s NFL Draft by nearly everyone.
Check any mock draft on the internet right now and you are likely to see Nebraska’s Randy Gregory near the very top — among the first four or five players taken. When a team drafts a player that high, they are expecting him to be a franchise-changing player — either immediately of sometime in the very near future.
Randy Gregory does not meet that criteria.
Gregory is sitting at the top of those mock drafts because he is supposed to be an elite pass-rusher. Having watched every game Gregory played during his two seasons at Nebraska — many of them in person — I can tell you with complete certainty that Randy Gregory is not an elite pass-rusher. If anything, he’s an undersized tight end who tries to use what advantage he has in speed to beat opposing tackles off the ball.
When I say he’s undersized, I’m talking about the fact that there might be a handful of NFL wide receivers not named Calvin Johnson who outweigh him. Most publications have Gregory listed at 240 pounds, which is already on the small side for NFL defensive ends. Some local Nebraska media members close to the program have said he looks closer to 225 pounds in person — something I’ve thought every time I watched him play.
Aside from being a little on the light side, there is not much about him that blows you away when he comes off the line. He has no signature move to get around or through opposing offensive tackles. It’s literally all speed and reach — and the results speak for themselves. Gregory played in ten games for Nebraska this season. He recorded sacks in half of them. That’s counting the half-sack he had against Wisconsin.
His lack of production wasn’t the result of opposing offenses running away from him or doubling him at the line. Nebraska coach Bo Pelini had to move Gregory all over the field in an effort to free him up and give him the best chance to get to the passer — mostly because he had such a hard time beating the opposing offensive tackle one-on-one. That’s inexcusable. With the amount of pure pocket passers in the Big Ten, a supposed elite pass-rusher like Gregory should have been teeing off on opposing quarterbacks all season long.
Randy Gregory wasn’t even close to being the best defensive end in his conference. Guys like Ohio State’s Joey Bosa and Michigan State’s Shilique Calhoun were much more productive and effective than Gregory. He may not have been the best defensive end on his own team, as there were times during the season when teammate Greg McMullen was able to get pressure on the quarterback against players that Gregory could not.
At the end of the day, Randy Gregory reminds me of former Oregon defensive end Dion Jordan — the third overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. He was another undersized defensive end who got by in college with speed and athleticism.
Randy Gregory has had two years at one of the nation’s elite strength and training programs to put on weight and keep it on. He has failed to do so. There is no reason for me to believe that will change in the NFL. As a result, you are looking at a guy who plays the game with a style similar to that of New England’s Chandler Jones — just with thirty fewer pounds on his frame to help him out.
I can see most average NFL offensive tackles dispatching Gregory one-on-one with ease. Just like in college, his team will have to move him around to exploit holes and mismatches in order to get him a good, clean look at the quarterback.
That’s simply not the kind of guy you use a top-five pick on, but by all accounts, that’s where he’ll be drafted. For that reason, I have Randy Gregory on my radar as a potential bust.