2019 Senior Bowl: 5 players to watch
By Joe Romano
Jaylon Ferguson, EDGE, Louisiana Tech
The position to get the most excited about at the 2019 Senior Bowl is the edge group. Josh Allen, the top prospect to watch, has already been mentioned. Guys like Georgia’s D’Andre Walker, Mississippi State’s Montez Sweat and Boston College’s Zach Allen are also a part of this stellar group. What none of those players are is the NCAA career sack leader. That honor belongs to Louisiana Tech’s Jaylon Ferguson.
Ferguson will look to use this Senior Bowl week to replicate what another small-school edge player did a year ago in Marcus Davenport. Davenport used this platform to spring board himself into the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. It is unlikely Ferguson can get to that level, but there is money to be made for him here.
On the field you can see why Ferguson was able to rack up so many sacks. At 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, he looks the part of an NFL edge defender. He couples that long, athletic frame with violent movement at every step of his pass rush. An area that strikes immediately when you watch Ferguson play is how he able to get ontop of offensive tackles in a hurry and not let them set their hands. That type of high-IQ defensive play will win over evaluators.
Now Ferguson is not the perfect edge prospect, there is a reason he has played at Louisiana Tech. There is not the athletic profile to match some of his classmates like Sweat or Allen. He is not the most powerful player like Allen or Walker either. Ferguson will need to win more with solid technique. He has been able to bully players, even high level ones. That will not happen in the NFL. His floor is super high and there is little doubt he will at least be a solid rotational player along the defensive line in the NFL.